Chael Sonnen sees the heavyweight division moving on with a marquee fight at the White House.
With UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) sidelined after undergoing double eye surgery, Sonnen says an interim title fight is inevitable. Aspinall was poked in both eyes in his title fight against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321, which was ruled a no contest.
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Insert UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira (13-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC). Sonnen predicts “Poatan” will feature in June’s White House event against Gane (13-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC).
“I am very confident in telling you Alex Pereira is going to be on the White House card,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “Question comes: Against who? Alex Pereira is the (light heavyweight) champion of the world, but there is no conversation about Alex and (Carlos) Ulberg. There’s nobody else at 205 pounds that would make sense.
“So I believe that Alex is going to come out and he’s going to be a heavyweight on the White House card. I also believe he’s going to take on Ciryl Gane. I also believe if you take a sitting world champion and you move him weight classes and he fights, it’s not just because. It’s for a belt, so this is where the idea of the interim title comes from.”
Sonnen disagrees with the idea of Aspinall being stripped or vacating the belt. If anyone should drop their belt, Sonnen says it’s got to be Pereira.
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“If Pereira is going to go to heavyweight then he needs to be a heavyweight,” Sonnen said. “I don’t think Pereira would disagree with me. I don’t think that Pereira would have a problem giving the 205-pound belt back. …I don’t think it’s bad if they fight for the interim championship at all.
“I think that’s great. I do think if Pereira and Ciryl fight, there’s got to be a belt. It needs to be scheduled for a potential five rounds. Pereira is the champion of the world. If the champion of the world fights, a championship of the world’s got to be on the line. That can be the interim.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Chael Sonnen sure Alex Pereira fights Ciryl Gane at the White House
