Chel Sonnen puzzled by Bo Nnickal vs. Cody Brundage match at UFC 300: “There’s no reason to have this fight”

Chel Sonnen was surprised by the choice of opponent for Bo Niccal’s upcoming fight.

Knickal (5-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) is set to face Cody Brundage (10-5 MMA, 4-4 UFC) at UFC 300 on April 13th at T-Mobile Arena, with Knickal opening as a -1450 favorite in Las Vegas.

“Bo’s last fight, he was a 24-1 favorite,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “It represented the biggest disparity, the biggest betting line in UFC history. Let’s look at the numbers.

“Bo Niccal is 27 years old. He’s fought five times. His longest fight was 2 minutes and 40 seconds. We have him in another fight now at UFC 300. He’s the favorite at 14-1. Currently, the favorite at 14-1 is about half the favorite he was in his last fight, but he’s guaranteed to be the biggest favorite on this card.”

Sonnen referenced Khamzat Chimaev, Conor McGregor, and Brock Lesnar as examples of fighters who rapidly ascended to stardom. With Niccal once again a heavy favorite, Sonnen questioned why he isn’t receiving similar opportunities.

“Why are we doing this? There’s no reason to have this fight,” Sonnen remarked. “I’m just trying to understand. Is this a numbers situation? Does Bo need to have a certain number of fights before he can contend for the title? Does he need to face a certain number of opponents before moving up? Does he need to rack up a certain number of victories before entering the ranked contest?”

Knickal was part of the historic 300th UFC pay-per-view event. UFC CEO Dana White has pledged to assemble a stacked card from top to bottom, with Knickal featuring on the pay-per-view main card for his second UFC fight. However, Sonnen is curious about Knickal’s placement at UFC 300.

“If he doesn’t make it to the main card, we’d have to ask, ‘What are we doing this for?'” Sonnen expressed. “Why would we set up a one-sided match between a 27-year-old undefeated star and Cody Brundage on the undercard, as per oddsmakers?”

For more details on this event, visit MMA Junkie’s Instagram page and YouTube channel.