Chael Sonnen Explains What Jon Jones Can Learn From Max Holloway
Chael Sonnen believes Jon Jones can learn a thing or two from UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway.
Holloway recently defended his featherweight title against Frankie Edgar at UFC 240 this past weekend. While “Blessed” was the favorite heading into the fight, there were some who felt an upset was certainly a possibility. In the end, however, it didn’t happen as Holloway comfortably won the fight.
But the fact that people had some doubts, along with Holloway usually always praising his opponents, led to the intrigue in the fight according to Sonnen:
“All you want as a fighter is a question [as to whether they can be beaten],” Sonnen said in a recent video (via BJ Penn). “You want the fans to, as a fighter, as an athlete, you wanna make sure there is no question. You wanna prove your point, you wanna shut everybody up, you wanna earn the respect.
“However, from a business standpoint, you don’t ever want that to happen. You want there to always be questions. How will that go? How would this guy do against this opponent?“
Jones Does Not Want Questions
Jones, on the other hand, is so insistent that he’s a level above everyone else that he feels disrespected if there are any questions or doubts about him. That is one reason why he is not selling out arenas according to Sonnen:
“I’ll use Jon Jones on the counter side of this,” he explained. “”Jon Jones does not want there to be any questions. If you question Jon Jones, you have then disrespected him. He will then be upset. Jon Jones is stupid. Jon Jones is one of the best fighters to ever fight and he doesn’t fight to sold out arenas, and he’s not gonna fight in front of a sold out arena for a meaningful period of time. He could not sell out an arena right now unless he was opposite Daniel Cormier. The reason, he’s stupid.
“He doesn’t understand the questions that the fans have is what makes them sit down and tune in. If they know how the movie ends, they’re not going to want to watch it as much as if they can speculate. So for Max, he’s in a very good spot business-wise because there are still questions.”
It’s an interesting theory, but it also fails to regard the fact that Jones consistently outsells Holloway when it comes to pay-per-view buys, even without Cormier as his opponent.
Regardless, what do you think of Sonnen’s comments?
