Chael Sonnen is not backing down from his position on Jorge Masvidal’s UFC return prospects, and he has expanded the dispute well beyond the original argument about whether a fight will happen.
Speaking with Ariel Helwani, Sonnen doubled down after Masvidal’s public rebuttal and made his core claim plainly.
“Well, that’s a tough one. It’s very tough because I don’t take Jorge as like an equal. I don’t look at him as like an unequal. And he is claiming that he’s going to fight in the Octagon, and I don’t come to him to hurt his dreams. I’m coming just to let his life get on track. Don’t pause. Don’t cancel your plans on the weekend. You’re not fighting in the Octagon.”
Sonnen suggested Masvidal may have been given incorrect information by someone within the UFC rather than intentionally fabricating a story.
“I’m either right or I’m wrong. But for me to be right, he doesn’t have to actually go in there and fight. He just has to have been told by somebody in authority that he’s going to go in there and fight. And I think he should call that person back. There was a misunderstanding. Jorge Masvidal will never fight in the UFC. That’s not a knock to Jorge Masvidal. That’s a reality. I made that claim and that really struck a nerve. I don’t know why that made him so upset.”
On the question of fighting Masvidal himself, Sonnen drew a clear distinction between acceptance and pursuit.
“I would never turn down a fight with Jorge Masvidal, but I would never seek a fight with Jorge Masvidal. The guys that I come out on your show when I call these guys like Jon Jones, like Fedor Emelianenko. This is Jorge Masvidal. Like Jorge, I don’t really know what to do with this.”
He also proposed settling the size argument on the spot.
“Jorge is greatly out of shape. And Jorge made a claim that he would come up to heavyweight to face me. And I just, I thought that would be fun for your show. Like, hey Jorge, let’s both fly into Ariel’s show and let’s just do a weigh-in right now. I won’t have a lot of time to lose weight. You won’t have a little bit. Let’s just go right into Ariel’s show and let’s just get on a scale because there is no way that he is the smaller guy.”
Sonnen also questioned whether Masvidal actually controls Gamebred MMA in any operational sense, pressing Helwani repeatedly on whether Masvidal personally signs checks for fighters or holds a promoter’s license, ultimately concluding he does not believe Masvidal is the person paying the talent.