Chael Sonnen shares some advice for former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker: “You cannot be a Sandhagen”

MMA analyst Chael Sonnen has given Robert Whittaker some advice regarding a possible fight against Alex Pereira.

Last weekend at UFC 287, Alex Pereira was knocked out cold by Israel Adesanya. In the process, he lost his UFC middleweight championship.

In the immediate aftermath, Pereira made it known that his next bout will take place at light heavyweight. That leaves Adesanya free to take on a new challenger – or, perhaps, someone he’s already faced before.

Robert Whittaker declared after the fight that he’s more interested than ever in a third meeting with Adesanya. Chael Sonnen, meanwhile, feels as if a collision with Pereira should be the way to go.

“You gotta be aware,” Sonnen said. “You gotta know what’s going on all times man, you cannot be a Sandhagen, you just can’t do it, you can’t. 185 pounds is a very interesting spot, you’ve got a couple of guys available, one’s named Sean Strickland, one is named Robert Whittaker. Where is Alex going to go? I mean Whittaker’s talking about, ‘They were gonna bring me in to fight Alex.’ Why not fight him now? What difference does it make? You were a world champion, he was a world champion more recently. You lost to a guy twice who he beat three times…Why not fight now? That would sure solve a lot of problems. You don’t know what you’re gonna do next…There always seems to be a misconception, a missed opportunity within this sport to pass on a guy that just lost if you won. It’s a myth.”

Quotes via MMA News

Whittaker’s next move

Given what Bobby Knuckles has already achieved in the division, we can’t imagine it’ll be too long before he earns another title shot.

Do you agree with Chael Sonnen? What’s next for Robert Whittaker? Let us know in the comments, BJPENN Nation!