Critics have already painted Chael Sonnen as undeserving of a UFC light heavyweight title shot against Jon Jones in April. Oddsmakers have made Jones a more than 6-to-1 favorite over the irascible trash talker, the company’s best villain.
But at least one person thinks Sonnen will be in the cage with one of the best pound-for-pound as more than just a sideshow – former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Randy Couture.
“I think Chael has a great opportunity to win this fight, actually,” Couture told Spike TV’s MMA Uncensored this week (via fiveknuckles.com).
Sonnen was the only man to dominate pound-for-pound king Anderson Silva before succumbing to a fifth-round submission two years ago. In a rematch, Sonnen lost by TKO in the second round. But Couture sees Sonnen’s wrestling style as a significant advantage in the April 27 fight in New Jersey. Though Jones’ background is also in that discipline.
“Technically, I see a similar style fight as Anderson Silva,” said Couture, who was recently in the feature film “Expendables 2.” “If he wades through it and can make Jon Jones wrestle him, I think he can win that. I think he can do it, but he needs to make it a wrestling match, start to finish.”
Which is what he did against Silva the first time. The second time Sonnen won the first round with his wrestling, but was unable to take Silva down in the second round.
Couture might be a tad biased since he and Sonnen are friends and have trained together. But he’s also usually pretty honest and few have an insight on MMA quite like the UFC Hall of Famer.
As for the pundits saying Sonnen, who has been a middleweight for years, is only in there because of his mouth, Couture didn’t necessarily disagree. But he does understand fully why the UFC did it.
Back in 2007, Couture was coming off a loss to Chuck Liddell in a UFC light heavyweight title fight and got a shot at heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia. He ended up winning and holding the title for more than a year.
“I think, at the end of the day, it’s a business decision,” Couture said. “This is a business, and Chael Sonnen is gonna bring it and hype up any single fight he’s in. I think Jon Jones, in denying him the fight on eight days notice, made it inevitable that they were gonna have to fight at some point. I think I would have taken him on an eight days’ training camp than on a full training camp, but I’m not Jon Jones.”
Jones was offered Sonnen on short notice at UFC 151 on Sept. 1, but turned it down and the UFC canceled the entire event. Jones was inundated with criticism afterward – from UFC president Dana White, fans and especially Sonnen.
There’s likely to be much more trash talk from the latter especially since he and Jones will be coaching opposite each other on “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show, which begins airing on FX in January.