Chael Sonnen doesn’t think the UFC 297 middleweight title fight between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis was all that competitive.
Entering the main event, the oddsmakers had the fight as a pick’em, as many were torn on who would win. The fight ended up being very close and it was Du Plessis who edged out a split decision to become the new middleweight champion.
Although the judges were split on who won, Chael Sonnen doesn’t think the fight was all that competitive. Instead, he believes Dricus Du Plessis clearly won the contest, as he thought the South African won every single round.
“When I have a bias, I disclose it to you guys, I disclose it and I still try and be impartial. So, I’m cheering for Sean. Sean and Colby those are my guys, it’s different, I get a knot in my stomach, it’s different. So, we lost every round, we lost every round of the fight,” Chael Sonnen said on his YouTube channel… “In my heart, I think it was 5-0. With a real bias towards Strickland, it was 5-0, and the absolute best case 4-1. I think the crowd for the most part agreed with me.”
Sonnen believes Strickland’s best five minutes came in the fifth round. With that said, he still thinks Du Plessis edged out Round 5, but wasn’t surprised that the judges scored it for the former middleweight champion.
When the official scores were read, Chael Sonnen said he couldn’t believe it was a split decision as even though he was biased towards Sean Strickland, he thought Dricus Du Plessis clearly won the fight.
“I was stunned when it was a split decision… My bigger surprise was when all was said and done, Joe Rogan who definitely qualifies as an expert in this space, Dana White who definitely qualifies as an expert in this space, both had Strickland,” Sonnen said. “They both had Strickland. I thought did we watch the same thing?”
It is a surprise to see Chael Sonnen think Dricus Du Plessis won every single round, as no one else seems to share that opinion. But, regardless, it was Du Plessis who got the win, who Sonnen thinks was the rightful winner, and the one who should have left Toronto with the middleweight title.
