Deontay Wilder blasts Chael Sonnen after UFC legend calls him a “coward” for boxing Francis Ngannou first over MMA: “A miserable person”

Former WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder has gone on the offense against Chael Sonnen.

‘The Bronze Bomber’ made headlines earlier this month for challenging Francis Ngannou to a two-fight series. ‘The Predator’ famously exited the UFC last month after failing to come to terms on a new contract. Ngannou later hinted at a move to the boxing ring, with a return tentatively set for July.

However, the boxer has different plans in mind. For his two-fight series with Ngannou, he would like to compete in MMA. The first bout would come in the boxing ring, with the second in the cage. For his part, Ngannou later showed interest in the idea on Twitter.

That being said, Chael Sonnen isn’t a huge fan of the idea. In a recent video published on his YouTube channel, ‘The American Gangster’ blasted Deontay Wilder. The former UFC title challenger specifically took issue with the first matchup taking place in boxing rather than MMA. In the video, he dubbed the boxer a coward.

In an interview with 78SportsTV, the former heavyweight champion responded to those comments. There, Wilder made it clear he’s not sure who Sonnen is, but is sure he’s a miserable person. He also offered to fight Ngannou first in MMA, rather than boxing.

Image: Showtime Boxing on Instagram

“Who is this guy again? When you’re successful, you don’t listen to the whispers or miserable people’s cries.” Deontay Wilder stated in the interview. “I don’t listen to those things. I’ve been travelling too much, I’ve been handling business, I’ve been feeding my family. I haven’t been sitting around worrying about the foolishness, or the sounds of foolish people. For me, because I don’t make no money off of foolishness, I don’t entertain it. But I might need to start getting me a podcast and start making me some money off of YouTube.” (h/t TalkSport)

He continued, “But that’s just another human being, a miserable person. That’s just what he feels, I don’t feel too much emotion about what people say. If someone wants to come out and maybe get clicks on his podcast or whatever he tries to do, then hey, more power to him. But we know what we’ve got going on.”

“Why not do boxing? Why not do MMA? I said they always come to boxing, I would love to come to MMA too, so what is the cowardly thing? Whatever sport goes first, it doesn’t matter. Whatever business goes first, it doesn’t matter. Whether we do MMA first or boxing first.”

What do you make of these comments? Do you want to see Deontay Wilder vs. Francis Ngannou? Sound off in the comment section below PENN Nation!