Sonnen: I want to clean up what’s left of Jones after Hendo gets done with him
Chael Sonnen is moving to Light heavyweight for a rematch vs. Forrest Griffin at the UFC 155 on Dec. 29,…
Chael Sonnen is moving to Light heavyweight for a rematch vs. Forrest Griffin at the UFC 155 on Dec. 29, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. He has big plans for the division.
The fight is a rematch from 2003’s one night, eight man IFC Global Domination tournament, in which Griffin beat Sonnen by Triangle. Griffin in turn lost to Jeremy Horn, who himself lost to tournament winner Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral.
There probably won’t be a third title fight for Chael Sonnen any time soon at middleweight. He says at light heavyweight, I’ll have my motivation. If not, I’ll be in a soul-searching spot.
That’s what I’d like to do, but I don’t know if that idea is gonna go anywhere, Sonnen said. These things change with a drop of a hat. I’d like to go to 205, but it’s being met with a lot of resistance [from the UFC].
A change is always nice. You do the same thing over and over, you’re always looking for change. 185 is the toughest weight class out there. We sent our champion up to face their [former] champion, Forrest Griffin (at UFC 101 in 2009). It lasted 93 seconds. There’s no debate to what the toughest weight class is. They used to have a karate guy that was champion at that weight.
Ideally, Sonnen says, his next opponent would be light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Jones, though, will face Dan Henderson at UFC 151 on Sept. 1 in Las Vegas. Sonnen and Henderson go way back, training together with Team Quest.
I don’t think there’s gonna be much left of [Jones] when Dan Henderson gets done with him, Sonnen said. If there’s anything left of him, I’d be happy to play cleanup.