Outside of UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili, Chael Sonnen still sees several fighters in the running to be Fighter of the Year.
Dvalishvili (20-4 MMA, 13-2 UFC) is currently one of the frontrunners for 2025 Fighter of the Year after title defenses over Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 in January and a finish of Sean O’Malley at UFC 316 in June.
Dvalishvili won the “Best UFC Fighter” at the most recent ESPYs last month, but Sonnen isn’t ready to give him the Fighter of the Year award just yet.
“Fighter of the Year is going to be very tough,” Sonnen told MMA Junkie. “It’s very tough. Merab has done a very good job, but to get in front of Ilia (Topuria)? There’s a buzz around Ilia that’s almost unlike anything I ever felt. (Khamzat) Chimaev is going to be of interest. Should Alex Pereira come back and get it over (Magomed) Ankalaev. No, Merab doesn’t have it locked up. A lot of that list comes down to popularity, which Merab has now.
“That dude is a star. I was at International Fight Week. The mobs and the crowd, they mobbed everyone through there. Dana (White) himself got more, but for active fighters, the crowd and the interest, Merab could not move around. He is over. He is very popular, and people are going to vote for him. But no, activity alone, no, it will not get you Fighter of the Year.”
Dvalishvili, who is currently scheduled to defend his belt against Cory Sandhagen (18-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) in the UFC 320 co-main event on Oct. 4 in Las Vegas, has plans of squeezing one more title defense before the end of the year.
“That’s very impressive (if he can get a fourth title defense in 2025),” Sonnen said. “Those stats do matter. Any time you’re setting history, it moves you to the front of the list. Merab is a wonderful person. That’s a nice man behind all this. One thing that takes fighters off their perch quickly is when they start believing what’s being said about them. They go to practice a little less. You don’t meet better people as you become bigger and better in life. You meet a higher quality scumbag. … It doesn’t seem like Merab is falling for any of that. He’s in Las Vegas, which is a very difficult place to not meet a lot of scumbags. He seems very focused. He seems to know who he is. He seems to be still be hungry. I think he deserves credit for that. I think one thing that would help Merab is if people got to know him more.
“He really is a kind gentleman. You can’t say that about a lot of fighters. Most of them are scumbags, too. He’s in a different category. I only bring that up because of his popularity and where it could go. If people simply get to know him, if he finds a way to get his message out, he comes across what he is, which is very nice, but he’s so nice that people think it’s an act. But it’s not. So if he does a little bit more time, I would love to see Merab coach ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’ … I think that kind of exposure where people got him in the living room every day, I think Merab has the potential to be the top draw in the sport. That’s a big claim for a 135 pounder. But O’Malley had it. It can definitely be done.”
To hear more from Sonnen, check out his complete appearance on “The Bohnfire” podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn above.
