Chael Sonnen baffled by Bo Nickal vs. Cody Brundage matchup at UFC 300: ‘There is no reason to do this fight’
January 1, 2024 4:45 pm ET
Chael Sonnen expected better matchmaking for Bo Nickalâs next fight.
Nickal (5-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) opened up as a whopping -1450 favorite in his upcoming fight against Cody Brundage (10-5 MMA, 4-4 UFC) at UFC 300 on April 13 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
âIn Boâs last contest, he was a 24-1 favorite,â Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. âIt represented the biggest disparity, the biggest (betting) line, in the history of the UFC. Letâs look at numbers.
âBo Nickal is 27 years old. Heâs had five fights. His longest fight went 2 minutes and 40 something seconds. Weâve now got him in another fight on (UFC 300). Heâs a 14-1 favorite. Now, 14-1 favorite is about half as big of a favorite as he was in his last fight, but I can assure you he will be the biggest favorite on the card.â
Sonnen pointed to Khamzat Chimaev, Conor McGregor and Brock Lesnar as examples of stars who have been fast tracked to the top. With Nickal a massive favorite once again, Sonnen questions why he isnât getting the same treatment.
âWhy are we doing this? There is no reason to do this fight,â Sonnen said. âIâm just trying to understand. Is this a numbers situation? Do we need to get Bo X amount of fights before he goes in for a title? Do we need to get Bo X amount of fights before he goes into a top-five (matchup)? Do we need to get him X amount of fights before he goes into a rankings match?â
Nickal landed on the UFCâs historic 300th pay-per-view event â a card UFC CEO Dana White promised would be stacked top to bottom. In his two UFC fights, Nickal opened up the pay-per-view main card, but Sonnen wonders where heâll be placed for UFC 300.
âIf heâs not put on the main card, weâre going to have to look around and go, âWhat are we doing it for?’â Sonnen said. âWhy would we do a squash match, according to the oddsmakers, with an undefeated star whoâs 27 years young against Cody Brundage on an undercard?â
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkieâs event hub for UFC 300.
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