Chael Sonnen questions Tom Aspinall's takedown ability in potential Alex Pereira UFC heavyweight fight
Chael Sonnen likes Alex Pereira’s chances against Tom Aspinall.
Light heavyweight champion Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) notched his third title defense when he brutally took out Khalil Rountree in Round 4 of their UFC 307 headliner in Salt Lake City.
Pereira said he plans on staying put at 205 pounds for the time being, but would like to move up to heavyweight someday. “Poatan” posted an image of interim heavyweight champion Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) watching him on, which has Sonnen salivating at the idea of a potential matchup between the two.
Although Aspinall’s grappling is expected to pose problems for Pereira, Sonnen isn’t sure if he’d succeed in getting to the necessary positions to take him down.
“I cannot guarantee you that the younger, bigger guy in Tom would win,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “There’s just something special about Alex, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. But I don’t know that Tom has the skills to just go out and take him down, so we might have to take that off of the board.
“I think Alex would have a really hard time getting up because of the size, but to get him there, Tom’s probably going to want to trade, probably have a little bit of ego like everybody else of, ‘Let me show all of you,’ and it might work out for him. But, it just might be a very dangerous proposition as well.”
Aspinall currently awaits the winner of the heavyweight title fight between champion Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic, which headlines UFC 309 on Nov. 16 in New York. But with Jones and a couple of his coaches hinting that “Bones” could be making the final walk at Madison Square Garden, Aspinall’s future is uncertain.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.