Chael Sonnen sees incredibly high stakes awaiting former UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski in Miami this weekend.
UFC CEO Dana White announced earlier this year that Ilia Topuria is relinquishing the featherweight belt ahead of a permanent move up to 155 pounds.
With that, a clash for the championship between former titleholder Volkanovski and surging contender Diego Lopes will take place at UFC 314 on April 12.
In addition to a chance at achieving two-time champ status, the bout marks the Australian’s attempt to break his current run of poor results, having been knocked out by both Topuria and Islam Makhachev in his last two bouts.
During a recent episode of his Good Guy/Bad Guy show alongside Daniel Cormier on ESPN MMA’s YouTube channel, Sonnen pointed to that aspect of the storyline to suggest that it’s more than just the title on the line for Alexander the Great” this weekend.
“If he (Volkanovski) gets laid out or he gets stopped, people are going to be calling for a retirement,” Sonnen said. “I think Volk is not only fighting for a world title, but he’s fighting for his career.”
