Chael Sonnen is of the belief that Tyron Woodley would give Israel Adesanya a run for his money.
Woodley and Adesanya have been hurling verbal jabs as of late. It started when Woodley said he feels the hype surrounding Adesanya is a bit overboard. While the former UFC welterweight champion also gave praise, Adesanya wasn’t having it and claimed that Woodley is “broke” and desperate for money fights.
Sonnen Says Woodley Would Be Tough Fight For Adesanya
Speaking to Submission Radio, Sonnen explained why he thinks Woodley would be no pushover if he were to fight Adesanya (via Essentially Sports).
“That fight’s not gonna happen! Woodley followed that call out by saying, ‘There are four fights I need to do at welterweight.’ Unless he wins all four, he is not gonna get a shot to be a ‘champ champ.’
“That’s actually a really hard fight for Adesanya. I mean it really is. The hardest guy to fight is the guy one weight class below you.”
Woodley is likely to headline a UFC event on May 23. While an opponent hasn’t been made official, Gilbert Burns claimed that he was offered the bout. Woodley took to his Twitter account to say that he has no problem facing Burns.
“The Chosen One” hasn’t competed since March 2019. He dropped a unanimous decision to Kamaru Usman, losing the UFC welterweight championship in the process. Woodley was scheduled to meet Leon Edwards earlier this year but travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic forced “Rocky” off the card. UFC London ended up being postponed.
As for Adesanya, he’s coming off a unanimous decision victory over Yoel Romero back in March. It was “The Last Stylebender’s” first successful UFC middleweight title defense. Adesanya is expected to face Paulo Costa sometime this year.
