Chael Sonnen believes Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane shows lack of competition in UFC heavyweight division: “I don’t know if we’ve had a less deserving heavyweight match”

Former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen believes UFC 285’s main event shows a bad sign for the heavyweight division.

This Saturday night on ESPN pay-per-view, Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane will collide in the main event. For ‘Bones’, the fight will be his first in the weight class and his first heavyweight fight ever. Jones has been out of action since his controversial decision win over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in 2020.

Meanwhile, ‘Bon Gamin’ is coming off a knockout win over Tai Tuivasa at UFC France last year. That stoppage victory was an important one for Gane, as it was his first since losing to Francis Ngannou last January. The defeat was the first of his career, as he lost to ‘The Predator’ by unanimous decision.

Despite the long layoff from Jon Jones and the recent championship loss from Ciryl Gane, fans are excited about the contest. While Chael Sonnen doesn’t want to rain on the parade, he does believe the UFC 285 headliner shows the lack of depth in the division.

During a recent edition of The MMA Hour alongside Ariel Helwani, ‘The American Gangster’ previewed the fight. There, Sonnen opined that by putting Jones and Gane into the vacant championship bout, it speaks to the talent of the rest of the weight class.

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“Well, you’ve got a guy who took three years off versus a guy who is 1-1 in his last two. That’s just the reality,” Chael Sonnen stated during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour alongside Ariel Helwani. “I don’t know if we’ve had a less deserving heavyweight [title] match in a meaningful period of time. We’ve got a heavyweight we were plagued with, [Francis Ngannou] didn’t even want to be here, he wanted to be a boxer. But, he won the title so we’ve got to sit with him.”

He continued, “Now you’ve got a guy who is 1-1 in his last two versus a guy who quit the sport three months ago and has never competed in the division.  As far as where we’re at in the heavyweight division, it’s pretty slim pickings. We had the youngest ever UFC champion who is now the oldest number one contender in the UFC, that’s the reality.”

What do you make of these comments? Do you agree with Chael Sonnen? Are you excited about UFC 285? Sound off in the comment section below PENN Nation!