Chael Sonnen urges UFC fans against giving Cody Garbrandt a hard time: “He’s desperately trying to recapture something”

Chael Sonnen is requesting that fight fans get behind former UFC champion Cody Garbrandt instead of giving him a hard time.

Garbrandt (12-5 MMA) made his flyweight debut last month at UFC 269 in Las Vegas, where he collided with perennial division contender Kai Kara-France.

Despite appearing to be in phenomenal shape for the contest, ‘No Love’ ultimately suffered a first round knockout loss to the Kiwi (see that here).

Kai Kara-France defeats Cody Garbrandt via KO at UFC 269

The brutal setback marked Cody’s fifth loss in his last six fights, with four of the losses coming by way of knockout. Due to his recent rough stretch, many pundits were calling for Cody Garbrandt to hang up his gloves.

With that said, ‘No Love’ has made it clear that he has no plans of calling it a career and even suggested that a fight with Sean O’Malley is “looming”:

“Like I said, I felt great at 125. I think that’s something I have to decide, whether I – 35, 25, I feel great at both. I think if I went to 35, I would do things a little differently. Keep my weight up throughout the camp. There’s a lot of good matchups. Sean O’Malley, I really want to whoop his ass. That’s a fight that’s looming.”

Garbrandt’s callout of ‘Suga’ drew criticism from some fight fans, as O’Malley is currently boasting a winning streak and competes in a higher weight class (135). However, for former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen, the time is now for fans to get behind Cody instead of showing him ‘No Love’:

“Cody Garbrandt came out in a interview and said something I found confusing. He said that he felt great at 125lbs but that a fight with Sean O’Malley was looming. That’s tough. I read that thing and then I read it a third time. You’re 125, Sean is 135, these two things don’t go together. They don’t have to. I don’t have to understand everything. But, I still focused on this. Now my problem with Cody Garbrandt…Look, I believe Cody is the best 135 pounder the world has ever seen. You want to give me a hard time about that go ahead. I believe the Cody Garbrandt that beat Dominick Cruz can beat any man that can tip the scale at a 135lbs.”

Chael Sonnen continued:

“Some guys’ (title) reign isn’t long. Some guys don’t defend, and re-defend and go on to defend that thing 5, 6 or 7 times. Those guys that do, wow. There’s a real adoration for that, but it doesn’t take away from the guy who did it one time. So the rules are different for Cody Garbrandt as I see them. When you become a world champion the rules are now changed. Cody doesn’t have a whole bunch of options. You want to give him a hard time (for calling out O’Malley), he doesn’t have a lot of options. Fight or not fight? What do you want to do? He’s made it clear that he’s going to fight. Accept it! For some guys, they’d be given their walking papers and it wouldn’t even be a conversation. Make sure you understand, there are laurels here. One hundred percent. This is a world champion who is desperately trying, that’s what changing weight classes, doing whatever it takes, taking on all comers. He’s desperately trying to recapture something. Let’s get behind that. Let’s not give Cody a hard time.”

Check out the full video below:

Do you agree with Chael Sonnen that fans should get behind Cody Garbrandt in his quest to fight Sean O’Malley? Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!