Veteran former title challenger, Chael Sonnen has lambasted both Sean Strickland and incoming championship chaser, Dricus du Plessis for brawling in the crowd on fighter row at UFC 296 earlier this month, claiming the pair’s coming together physically had nothing to do with fight promotion.
Chael Sonnen unhappy with Strickland – du Plessis melee at UFC 296
Sonnen, a former undisputed light heavyweight and middleweight title challenger under the banner of the UFC, turned analyst, claimed that while he was not a “prude” – he was not a fan of last weekend’s scuffle between Strickland and du Plessis, which resulted in the defending middleweight champion’s exit from the T-Mobile Arena.
“It’s not as though there wasn’t repercussions – (Sean) Strickland got thrown out,” Chael Sonnen told MMA Fighting. “That’s how security handles these things. There always becomes a question of what level of authority needs to do it, and there seems to be this idea that it needs to be the sport, or the governing body. That gets a little bit strange for me.”
“It’s not as thought that wasn’t dealt with,” Sonnen explained. “But no, I don’t like that stuff. I’m not a prude about it, but that isn’t fight promotion – that’s fighting, and that isn’t sanctioned fighting. That’s illegal fighting. I’m not a prude, but I don’t like when the punches get thrown. You’ve got to be able to have these back and forths, and you get to have a level of honor, and no, I didn’t like that.”
Sharing their respective thoughts on the brawl between fellow middleweights, former champion, Israel Adesanya claimed he was all there for their melee on fighter row, while fan-favorite striker, Robert Whittaker claimed that he believed something appeared fishy about the engagement, speculating that it was pre-planned before UFC 296.