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Chael Sonnen would like to see Kamaru Usman earn his title shot by facing the original No. 1 contender at welterweight.
After rebounding against Joaquin Buckley in Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 69 headliner, Usman (21-4 MMA, 16-3 UFC) called out the winner of welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev, which is expected to take place later in the year.
While Sonnen isn’t totally against the idea of Usman being next in line, he suggests the former champ take on Shavkat Rakhmonov (19-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC), who was meant to fight for the title at UFC 315 before withdrawing due to injury.
“I think one strategy, because I do believe Shavkat to be the true No. 1 contender,” Sonnen said on “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Daniel Cormier. “I do believe when Shavkat comes back, he’s probably going to walk right into a title fight, and I do believe between Islam and Jack, I think Shavkat is the alpha male in that room. I just think he’s the right size, and I think he matches up really well. I offer you that, because I think that Kamaru could come out publicly and start going after Shavkat, saying let me fight him. ‘Let me fight him for a No. 1 contendership,’ of which if he won, I think he would be granted.
“But even absent of getting that fight, should Shavkat walk right into a title fight, Usman’s now still aligning himself with one of the top two guys. I think strategy-wise, if he could align himself properly with Shavkat, and nobody’s going to ask for that job. Nobody out there’s going to ask to fight Shavkat. If he could come in and somehow get some business with him, it could pay off big.”
Rakhmonov emerged as No. 1 contender after defeating Ian Machado Garry by unanimous decision last December at UFC 310. He was unable to make UFC 315 to challenge then-champion Belal Muhammad and was replaced by Della Maddalena, who defeated Muhammad to claim the belt.
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