Former Jon Jones rival Chael Sonnen won’t blame the reigning UFC heavyweight champion if he defends the title against Stipe Miocic and retires, but “American Gangster” hopes his compatriot will delay his retirement and challenge the Russian puncher Sergei Pavlovich, who is the leader of the candidates’ race.
“I’d love to see John challenge Sergei,” Sonnen said in a recent episode of his podcast. “I’m not sure it will be and I can’t blame John for that – I wish I could but I can’t because he’s a champion and it’s not his job”
“But John has already done a lot of things that no one else could do, and people said it was impossible. Therefore, if at the age of 35 he challenges the leader of the next era of fighters, which, without a doubt, is Sergey Pavlovich, it will be something really special. It will have courage, boldness, and competitiveness – all the qualities for which John deserves recognition.
Recall that the fight between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic should head the UFC tournament in New York in November, and Sergey Pavlovich knocked out Curtis Blades in the first round last weekend and climbed to second place in the organization’s heavy division ranking.
Source: https://fighttime.ru/news/item/31395-chel-sonnen-esli-dzhons-brosit-vyzov-pavlovichu-eto-budet-nechto-osobennoe.html?rand=19907
