As the UFC debuts in Azerbaijan this weekend, former middleweight fighter Chael Sonnen has lauded promotional CEO Dana White for sticking by an ancient promise when it comes to booking fights.
Set to feature in Baku for the very first time in its history, the Octagon will play host to a rather eye-catching lineup on paper — particularly the main card portion of their card for the night.
Taking headlining honors is a high-stakes light heavyweight headliner between former champion Jamahal Hill and brutal striker, recent title challenger Khalil Rountree.
To boot, in the night’s co-headliner, hometown favorite, Rafael Fiziev, will return, too — booking a mouth-watering showdown against surging Chilean upstart, Ignacio Bahamondes, something Sonnen believes is in line with the UFC boss keeping his word.
The pairing of Fiziev and Bahamondes, Sonnen claims, is a surefire sign that the best of the best still tangle in the Octagon to this very day.
“There are no favors in the UFC,” Sonnen said of Fiziev’s clash with Bahamondes on Good Guy/Bad Guy.
“Dana White, in 2001, made a brand promise that he was going to separate himself from boxing. And he stated that ‘the best will fight the best. No matter if it’s best for business. No matter if it’s best for merchandising or ticket sales,” Sonnen claimed.
“And to make Fiziev face Bahamondes in Baku, just backs up that brand promise, man. Nobody gets a deal around here. You’re gonna fight the top guys at all times,” he added.
Notably, despite Sonnen’s claims, White has been accused of allowing fighters to dictate terms on who fights whom. Earlier this year, fans expected the UFC to book a lightweight title fight between champion Islam Makhachev vs Ilia Topuria, but the Dagestani fighter avoided the former featherweight champion like a plague.
That issue was sorted out after Chief Financial Officer, Hunter Campbell, flew to Dagestan and convinced Islam to move up to welterweight and fight the 170 lbs champion Jack Della Maddalena, while Topuria battles Charles Oliveira for lightweight glory.
That said, the problem at heavyweight doesn’t seem to be going away. Undisputed champion Jon Jones, who by White’s own admission has often been difficult to do business with, has been refusing to unify the title against interim champion Tom Aspinall.
Shockingly, Jones is not on the verge of surpassing Cain Velasquez as the longest reigning heavyweight champion of all time, while only having defended his title once.
Consequently, tens of thousands of fans have signed a petition to have Jones stripped of the title, while many others have blamed White’s shifting focus for the mess.
White blasted for promoting Canelo – Crawford
Set to enter the professional boxing sphere finally later this year, White will land as a promoter in one of the biggest blockbuster fights of all time — a fight between the undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez and WBO and WBA junior middleweight champion Terence Crawford.
Relaunching Zuffa Boxing under the banner of TKO Boxing, White, alongside Saudi mover and shaker Turki Alalshikh, and WWE exec Nick Khan, will promote the massive showdown in Las Vegas.
Drawing criticism for this, however, White has been accused of turning his attention to the square circle, and allowing a host of lacklustre Fight Night and flagship cards to hit the screens in the last 18 months.
Most notably, outspoken YouTube content creator, The MMA Guru, claimed White should be ashamed for seemingly showing a preference to the boxing sphere over the UFC.
Dana (White) should start f**king promoting fights again,” he said.
“Now I’m gonna get angry on this microphone. Dana should start promoting fights again and start acting like the President of the UFC. He’s f**king promoting Canelo versus Crawford. Dana is promoting Canelo versus Crawford as the UFC President.”
“That’s a f**king traitor right there to the UFC. I honestly believe this. Fire Dana White, and put me in the job. And I’ll promote the UFC,” he continued, berating the UFC boss.
