Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
Chael Sonnen sees two tough challenges for Israel Adesanya, and they are both out of left field.
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya’s thorough demolition of Paulo Costa at UFC 253 has many wondering just exactly who can challenge him within his division. Former title challenger Chael Sonnen, as he so often does, has gone off the beaten path for his two suggestions.
In his post-fight breakdown of last Saturday’s main event, Sonnen went to his whiteboard and named former champions Chris Weidman and Tyron Woodley as Adesanya’s two biggest challenges at present. I know, that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense and he even acknowledges it in the video (posted at the top of the page).
“I will tell you the two hardest matchups for Izzy Adesanya right now,” Sonnen said. “Chris Weidman and Tyron Woodley. […] Weidman has always been a matchup issue. Weidman’s a guy that just knows how to come forward, slip, and he can get you down. Adesanya earlier in his career, showed some trouble with that. I fully admit that he has not shown that recently. You can go all the way back to the (Kelvin) Gastelum fight where (Adesanya) was down twice, scrambled to his feet both times, and one time even threw up a triangle attempt. But you could go back to the Marvin Vettori fight, just by example, and you can see where that’s a problem that Chris Weidman would also present.
“Weidman’s going to get a hold of Izzy and he’s going to drag him down. What happens after that is between those boys, but Weidman’s a problem and so is T-Wood.”
Weidman is coming off a unanimous decision win over Omari Akhmedov back in August, ending his two-fight losing skid and keeping his name afloat the list of ranked UFC middleweights. Woodley is on a three-fight losing streak, looking scarcely competitive against Kamaru Usman, Gilbert Burns, and Colby Covington in the process. Sonnen didn’t really dive into why Woodley had a chance against Adesanya, for what it’s worth.
“I’m only sharing for you, because this has to be hypothetical,” Sonnen continued. “Adesanya’s looking so good and so impressive, you have to begin to guess what can he do next, and can anybody beat him. I would offer for you that there are two guys that can give him big problems. Tyron Woodley, who needs to become a middleweight, and Chris Weidman who is already at middleweight, and I fully admit to you that those guys are not likely to get the chance. I’m just telling you who would give him the most problems.”
Well if there’s one thing we can all agree on with Chael on this particular topic, it’s that Weidman and Woodley are not likely to get the chance to challenge Izzy for the belt.