{"id":944032,"date":"2026-10-28T14:28:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T14:28:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/944032\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T14:28:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T14:28:16","slug":"morning-report-chael-sonnen-alexander-volkanovski-double-retirement-fight-pitch-is-one-of-the-dumbest-ideas-ive-ever-heard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/944032\/","title":{"rendered":"Morning Report | Chael Sonnen: Alexander Volkanovski double retirement fight pitch is \u2018one of the dumbest ideas I\u2019ve ever heard\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chael Sonnen isn\u2019t buying Alexander Volkanovski\u2019s sales pitch.<\/p>\n

This past weekend, Volkanovski successfully defended his featherweight title with a second-round stoppage of Movsar Evloev in the main event of UFC 333. The win was yet another feather in the cap of one of the greatest fighters of all time, and afterward, Volkanovski quickly began to lobby for an even grander feather: a fight with lightweight champion Justin Gaethje.<\/p>\n

Despite the line of contenders at lightweight, Volkanovski suggested that he and Gaethje could do a superfight, with both men retiring afterward so as to not hold up either the 145-pound of 155-pound divisions. But Chael Sonnen thinks that\u2019s ridiculous.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe does not know what we are doing here,\u201d Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. \u201cVolkanovski just laid out one of the dumbest ideas I\u2019ve ever heard. \u2026 He\u2019s gonna go up, and he\u2019s gonna fight Justin Gaethje. He\u2019s got no problem with him; they get along. But they\u2019re gonna throw their arms around each other and put the gloves down in the middle when this thing is over. Who does that help? Why would anybody book that fight?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just a really weird thing to do. He suggested that he goes to 155 pounds to test himself. I appreciate that, except the fact that you\u2019re a \u201855-pounder that cuts his ass off to not fight at \u201855. You cut your ass off to not test yourself. You used to weigh 96 kgs [211 pounds]. \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cI do challenge the notion that, \u2018I will go to 155 to test myself to fight Gaethje.\u2019 That\u2019s a cop out. That\u2019s a cop out by anybody. I don\u2019t mean that it\u2019s conscious, but that it\u2019s subconscious. If you want to go to 155 and test yourself, drop the strap and go into the division; exactly what Ilia Topuria did. Now, I understand that history is going to tell you that Ilia ended up with a title shot. He was not guaranteed a title shot when he dropped the strap and moved into the division.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to test yourself, do what Max Holloway did: be a \u201845-pounder that enters \u201855 with no guarantee. Which means if I lose, I don\u2019t get to say I lost to the best guy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unknown right now if the UFC has any interest in accommodating Volkanovski\u2019s pitch, though following UFC 333, UFC CEO Dana White did suggest it would be hard to deny \u201cThe Great\u201d many requests. That being said, Volkanovski has already had two shots to become a two-division UFC champion, losing twice to Islam Makhachev. In those instances, Volkanovski did not vacate his featherweight belt, and Sonnen seems to take umbrage with Volkanovski looking to get that same consideration for a third time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Volk went up, he did not vacate; he did not burn his boats. If he was to burn his boats, he would have dropped the \u201845-pound belt. \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing stopping \u2014 there\u2019s no anchor tied to your ass to do that. You can do that now. Right now. \u2026 Make a public statement, that\u2019s all you\u2019ve got to do to drop a belt. Tell the public you\u2019re dropping the belt. It\u2019s no different than we put a belt on a guy at a press conference. This really is how it works.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to test yourself? I like the idea. You want Gaethje? It\u2019s not the same thing. You want a shot at a world title that you\u2019ve already had twice. It\u2019s not the same thing. You want to test yourself, do what Ilia did: drop the belt, go into the division.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interim. Matt Brown defends Islam Makhachev, rips UFC for introducing another \u2018f*cking interim title.\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Chama. \u2018Go back to Chama\u2019<\/a>: Israel Adesanya questions Alex Pereira for saying he\u2019ll return to 205 with UFC 335 loss.<\/p>\n

GOAT. Aljamain Sterling explains why he\u2019s not ready to call Petr Yan the bantamweight GOAT<\/a> just yet.<\/p>\n

Christmas. Nakisa Bidarian teases Darren Till as possible next opponent<\/a> for Jake Paul.<\/p>\n

Wrestling. Arman Tsarukyan wrestles Anthony Pettis<\/a> in RAF 15 main event.<\/p>\n

The UFC Journey for Moicano vs. Tom Nolan.<\/p>\n

DC talks to Sean O\u2019Malley.<\/p>\n

Patrick Habirora trains with Georges St-Pierre.<\/p>\n

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE<\/p>\n

Movsar got a nice welcome home.<\/p>\n

Very obviously no, since he just lost.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think that was real.<\/p>\n

Drew Dober is trying hard to break through as a content guy. Some of it is interesting.<\/p>\n

TJ on them good vitamins now.<\/p>\n

Vadim Nemkov (20-2, 1 NC) vs. Sergei Bilostenniy (15-4); PFL Dubai; Nov. 14<\/p>\n

Patrick Habirora (9-0) vs. Omar El Dafrawy (16-6); PFL Dubai; Nov. 14<\/p>\n

Pouya Rahmani (6-0) vs. Oleg Popov (23-2); PFL Dubai; Nov. 14<\/p>\n

Sergio Pettis (25-8) vs. Joji Goto (21-9-1); PFL Dubai; Nov. 14<\/p>\n

Abubakar Nurmagomedov (17-4-1) vs. David Martinez (17-6); PFL Dubai; Nov. 14<\/p>\n

Khasan Magomedsharipov (11-0) vs. Adam Borics (20-4); PFL Dubai; Nov. 14<\/p>\n

Asa\u00ebl Adjoudj (11-1) vs. Movlid Khaybulaev (23-0-1); PFL Dubai; Nov. 14<\/p>\n

Ernesto Rodriguez (11-2) vs. Rhys McKee (15-7-1); PFL Dubai; Nov. 14<\/p>\n

Shem Rock (12-3-1) vs. Connor Hughes (12-3); PFL Dubai; Nov. 14<\/p>\n

Alexei Pergande (8-0) vs. Akhmed Magomedov (11-2); PFL Dubai; Nov. 14<\/p>\n

Lewis McGrillen (13-2) vs. Nawras Abzakh (15-6); PFL Dubai; Nov. 14<\/p>\n

Khmazat Abaev (6-1) vs. Leon Hill (10-2); PFL Dubai; Nov. 14<\/p>\n

Aleksandra Savicheva (8-2) vs. Jacinta Austin (9-2); PFL Dubai; Nov. 14<\/p>\n

Khabib Nabiev (12-0) vs. Styve Ngono (8-1); PFL Dubai; Nov. 14<\/p>\n

Denis Goltsov (37-9) vs. Maxwell Djantou Nana (9-2); PFL Dubai; Nov. 14<\/p>\n

Quillan Salkilld (13-1) vs. Benoit Saint Denis (17-4, 1 NC); UFC Sydney, Feb. 6<\/p>\n

\"Jed<\/a>\"MMA<\/p>\n

Mailbag! Get your questions in!<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s that time of the week.<\/p>\n

Got questions? I have answers. Send in your Qs and I’ll give you some As, and if there are some really good Qs, I’ll A them in a mailbag column.<\/p>\n

Thanks! Love y’all!<\/p>\n

\"\"\/Rec 1CommentsThin Stroke Comment Icon BubbleReplyRead 20 replies<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure I\u2019m in the minority, but letting Volkanovski get a third crack at a lightweight title would be absurdly silly when there are many more-deserving contenders waiting. But if you\u2019re going to push for it, at least just be honest and say why you really want it: because you love Volk and want him to get a chance at a meaningless second title.<\/p>\n

Because that\u2019s what this is about. If he beats Gaethje and instantly retires, he won\u2019t be the best lightweight on Earth, the same way GSP wasn\u2019t the best middleweight. It\u2019s just collecting a trinket, at the expense of the careers of other deserving contenders.<\/p>\n

Chael is right: if Volk wants another lightweight title shot, go up and beat a top contender. Then no one can possibly complain.<\/p>\n

If you find something you\u2019d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee<\/a> or @JedKMeshew<\/a> on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, and like us on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n