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“What it really is is a division that doesn’t have a champion” – Charles Oliveira shouldn’t be considered The Lightweight champion, according to Chael Sonnen.

Adeep Sri Narayana
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Chael Sonnen Charles Oliveira

According to Chael Sonnen, the champion has no name, including “Charles Oliveira” in UFC Lightweight division.


At UFC 274 in May, Oliveira continued his incredible resurgence in the Octagon, adding an 11th win to his active streak, this time at the expense of Justin Gaethje, who was choked unconscious in Arizona.

But after narrowly missing weight the day before match night, “Do Bronx” vacated the title early in the May 7 headliner and was unable to get it back against “The Highlight.”

However, with talk of a mis-scale and similar cases in the past where many believed they were treated differently, a significant portion of the MMA community, including fans, fighters and pundits, shared the feeling that Oliveira was still the rightful lightweight title holder.

While admitting he does the same at times, Sonnen, a former two-division championship challenger in the UFC, recently claimed that still considering Oliveira the king at 155 pounds is not correct right now.

“I think it’s very important that we understand 155 pounds for what it is, not what we want it to be.” What it really is is a division that doesn’t have a champion, and we’re all forgetting that,” Sonnen said. “We all tend to think that Charles is the great guys, but he’s just doing it to be nice.

“We don’t like the way the scale stores have gone down. I don’t like that he had a match where the opponent could be champion if he won, Charles did what he does – we don’t like it. So we’re kind of sweeping it up as a way to serve Charles,” Sonnen added. “We do it to be nice. I think it’s a mistake and I think you’re not serving him enough.”

Sonnen: Champion status affects Oliveira’s McGregor Push
In explaining why he believes Oliveira’s retention of gold is a mistake. Sonnen pointed to the Brazilian’s desire to face former featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor.

Chael Sonnen POV

The former fighter-turned-analyst also cited Ali Abdelaziz’s remarks, whose clients include top fighters Islam Makhachev and Beneil Dariush. The Irishman will only agree to take on “Do Bronx” if the Egyptian agrees to withdraw from the next battle for the vacant belt.

Ali [Abdelaziz] and I spoke. Ali did something really intriguing, according to Sonnen. ” Charles appears to be genuinely interested in facing Conor McGregor, the man said. Charles can manage the conflict, in our opinion. Don’t force him to oppose Islam right now; give him a break. We don’t believe it should be for the championship.’ He wants to fight Conor; this will be a life-changing night. Let him do things with Conor.

“You can make people believe that is a world class fight, but we don’t need to that , and that’s what Ali said . Ali stands firm and practices what he preaches, which is to play all the games you want in your career. But when you’re a champion, you fight anybody,” Sonnen continued. “Charles doesn’t want to do it right now. He is not interested in fighting Islam.”

With that in mind, Sonnen made the suggestion that continuing to label Oliveira as the champion. But puts pressure on the Brazilian to face Makhachev, rather than McGregor. That’s because if Oliveira were to seek to face the Irishman for the belt, it would draw criticism around the perceived dodging of legitimate and more deserving challengers.

Chael Sonnen doesn’t like Charles Oliveira is still treated as Champion


“We still act like (Oliveira) is (champion). Every picture posted of Charles still has the belt on,” Sonnen said. “We’re trying to give a conclusion that we wish was accurate, but it’s not. And maybe you’re serving Charles better (by not calling him the champion).

“He wanted to go out and fight McGregor and he’s a world champion. That’s a problem. We get it, big money night, we get it. But first you’ll have to wait. We’re going to have to slow down the division… Second, not going against real opponents, that’s going to be a little bit of a problem,” Sonnen concluded.

While he’s constantly said he’d love to share the Octagon with “Notorious” Conor McGregor. Oliveira certainly hasn’t had the same enthusiasm for a potential vacant title fight with Islam Makhachev, often suggesting the Dagestani needs wins against the top contenders before fighting for gold. .

By not seeing “Do Bronx” as an easy sitter of the throne. He may be freer to pursue the fight money that most believe he deserves without first facing the toughest challenges in the division and potentially jeopardizing the opportunity.

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