The UFC has seen a whole host of Russian fighters dominate certain divisions over the past few years. Khabib Nurmagomedov is considered one of the greatest fighters of the modern era, both the current UFC Bantamweight and Welterweight Champions are Russian, and the current UFC Middleweight Champion Khamzat Chimaev was also born in Russia. Chimaev will defend his title against Sean Strickland at UFC 328 on May 9, but had the UFC listened to Sonnen, the plethora of Russian fighters in the UFC wouldn’t exist, primarily because Sonnen knew they would dominate the business.
“Strickland is the last hope. He is the last line of defense between the martial arts community and having to watch Chimaev for the next period of time,” Sonnen said on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “I remember warning the UFC, I remember it being in 2012 sitting with Kenny Florian doing UFC Tonight, warning the UFC of the Russian invasion. I was warning them, it’s coming, the Russians are coming and you are our only line of defense. Quit signing these guys.”
Sonnen explained that he saw the big boxing fights receiving less fanfare in the United States when the Klitschko brothers (who were Ukrainian) were ruling that business in the heavyweight division during the 2000s and early 2010s. However, it was mainly because how effective they were in boxing that made Sonnen worried that if the Russian MMA fighters started flocking to the UFC, they would be as effective as the Klitschko brothers.
“I remember warning the UFC, unless you want a whole bunch of guys coming in with beards and no beards taking all your belts away, the only way to stop them is don’t give them the opportunity. As a wrestler, I can tell you this culture is a different level of toughness, and Strickland is really our last line of defense.”
Please credit “The Ariel Helwani Show” when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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