“Colossal Mess” at 185 lbs Division After Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland Claims UFC Legend- “Absolutely Nobody Is Calling for Sean”

Callouts have more or less become the staple move for all UFC fighters. But what happens when nobody is calling anyone out? Sean Strickland broke the belt out of Israel Adesanya‘s grips and all went quiet. Some wept because their favorite fighter lost unexpectedly while others paid Strickland his dues for coming out on top. However, there has been no direct callout to Strickland for the title.

Fighters like Dricus Du Plessis have claimed that they should be next in line. Many think that they actually should have a title shot. But has anyone stepped forward to directly call out the champ? It doesn’t look like it. Chael Sonnen felt like it was a tremendous problem.

Sonnen explains how callouts generally work

Does the champion ever do callouts? Or is it only those who are seeking the belt, trying to snatch it away from the champ? Obviously, a champion would want to retain his belt for as long as possible. Unless of course, you’re Israel Adesanya. So, Strickland may have no real incentive to call someone out except for looking for a fight because that’s his job. Here’s what Sonnen felt:

“Right now absolutely nobody is calling for Sean Strickland which is a colossal mess,” Sonnen started. “Now should Sean go and call for somebody? Well he could, but again traditionally, if that’s what we’re speaking to, that’s not how it’s done. Also historically speaking, if the champion does give the mandate to the challenger, the challenger gets it (the fight).”

Chael Sonnen then went on to explain how once ‘Izzy’ called out Yoel Romero as the reigning champion and the fight happened quickly. At UFC 248, Adesanya claimed the victory by decision but it just goes to show how once the champion asks, the champion gets. There is no thrill of not knowing whether it would happen or not.

“… You have Sean Strickland whose hands are clean. He’s the champion,” Sonnen explained. “He’s ready to take on all comers but there are no comers. There’s nobody. There was a guy in the cage with him that night, that was a seven to one favorite. There was a guy on the outside of the cage who beat him. Neither of those guys or anyone else has called dibs.”

Sonnen was clearly speaking about Jared Cannonier here. Cannonier weighed in as a replacement for one of the fighters in case they didn’t make weight. He had fought both the fighters in the cage and defeated the current champion, Sean Strickland.

Chael Sonnen has genuine concerns about the future of UFC

Chael Sonnen believes that the UFC might just go back to the “dark ages” if it keeps going on like this. He even pointed out how the same themes are following in the heavyweight division with Jon Jones having no real active challengers apart from his next fight. Sonnen feels that the entertainment hype that used to be around will just die out if the call-out trend doesn’t come back.

Also Read: “Izzy’s Not Right…” After Comparing Israel Adesanya With Conor McGregor, UFC Legend Presents the Former Champ With a Grim Reality Check

In the meanwhile, rumors are as fresh as they get. While no Strickland plans have been fully confirmed, rumors about a rematch are afloat. On the other hand, ‘Izzy’ himself has expressed how he now wants to just have a fight for fun. So, no one knows if a rematch will actually happen. As far as fans know ‘The Last Stylebender’ could call a rematch fun as well, so there’s no real way to tell.

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