Chael Sonnen: Sean Strickland is UFC's 'last hope' from 'having to watch [Khamzat] Chimaev' with the belt

As one of history’s all-time greatest trash-talkers, Sonnen occasionally crossed a line or two in his heyday, but compared to Strickland, most would consider the Oregonian’s banter harmless. To see things escalate in this manner has been concerning, said Sonnen.

"Can these guys really not be around each other to do fight-style activities like face off? “ Sonnen said. “Are they really carrying weapons, and the security that's provided not enough? I don't know. I felt like the ‘I’m going to shoot you’ comment took some of the fun out of it. I wish that phrase wasn’t used.

"By the way, I don’t know that he was kidding. He is somebody who practices his Second Amendment rights. He does have a concealed carry. He is trained with a weapon. I don’t know that Sean was joking, but I also don’t like the theme of that.

"I'm pleading with Sean Strickland now — if Chimaev or Chimaev's friends approach you, Sean, please, don't shoot them."

Throughout Sonnen’s own career, he made enemies aplenty — most notably in Brazil.

His infamous rivalry with UFC legend Anderson Silva stands out most as one of the all-time best, thanks to Sonnen’s promotional antics. But as heated as things became between the pair, they never came to blows outside of their fights — unlike Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva. Sonnen reflected on how, after their brawl during “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil,” Sonnen’s security guard threatened to shoot Silva if something happened again. Sonnen demanded that his security not shoot Silva, no matter how far things escalated.

In the end, Sonnen had the last laugh when he won their eventual 2017 fight in Bellator by unanimous decision, with a game plan typical of an “American Gangster” performance: Take down, smother and dominate.

For Chimaev vs. Strickland, Sonnen expects to see the same approach as usual from the champ. But taking down Strickland will be more difficult than Chimaev’s past 15 opponents, believes Sonnen.

Khamzat Chimaev makes the first defense of his UFC belt this Saturday against Sean Strickland.

(Geoff Stellfox via Getty Images)

“There's a misconception on Chimaev, which is that he gets tired in fights,” Sonnen said. “If I'm an athlete and I don't get tired in a fight, I failed everybody. I failed the ticket-buyer. My own coach would be furious if he saw me in a fight and I didn't get exhausted. Why would I be saving energy? Whether it was one or 100 rounds, I better use all the energy that I have, and we've seen Chimaev do that. We saw Chimaev go out there with guys like Kamaru Usman, Gilbert Burns, meet with everything that he had. And when the fight was over, he had no more energy. That's what he should have done. That's what his job is to do, and the opponent should have done the same.

“So I will not concede to the idea that Chimaev can't go championship rounds. When a guy gets tired, if he wilts, that's one thing. But if a guy gets tired and he pushes on through the exhaustion, that's what makes champions.

"With Strickland, how are you going to beat him?” Sonnen continued. “You’re not going to take him down, and if you do, you’re not going to keep him there. If you do and you keep him there, every five minutes, they're going to blow a whistle and make you reset. And I don’t think that Strickland can get tackled for 25 minutes and held there. So can Chimaev beat Strickland? Yeah, sure. But he’s going to have to find a way to do it, and it’s not going to be what he did with Dricus [du Plessis]. It’s not going to be dominant ground-and-pound.”