Chael Sonnen thinks Max Holloway beat Alex Volkanovski at UFC 251

Chael Sonnen doesn’t believe there was a robbery at UFC 251 but he does think Max Holloway deserved the nod over Alex Volkanovski.

In the co-main event of UFC 251, Holloway challenged Volkanovski in a rematch for the featherweight championship. Volkanovski captured the 145-pound gold back in Dec. 2019 with a unanimous decision win over “Blessed.” In the rematch, “The Great” had a tougher time with Holloway but was able to secure the split decision victory.

Chael Sonnen took to his YouTube channel to share his thoughts on Volkanovski vs. Holloway II.

“I saw something different,” Chael Sonnen said. “I saw something different the first time I thought that Max won and I definitely saw something different [at UFC 251]. Look, I had it three rounds to two Max. Now the first two rounds are without question. Max had a knockdown in each round, he gets to win those rounds. To tell me that Max didn’t win another round, that’s just a bit of a surprise for me.”

Sonnen went on to say that he doesn’t believe the decision was a robbery. He also noted that Holloway is in a tough spot unless Volkanovski loses his title to another contender.

“Now this was a great fight and this was not a robbery, and that is not at all my message,” Chael Sonnen continued. “The reason that it’s very important that this fight was done correctly, and by the way, I’m not saying it wasn’t, I’m saying I saw something different. We had no robbery here, not the message at all. But understand it from this perspective. If I’m right, then you have the best fighter in the world who does not have the world championship but also if I’m right, the best fighter in the world who doesn’t have the championship has no path back to an opportunity to have the championship unless Volkanovski gets beaten.”

With Holloway being 0-2 against Volkanovski, there’s a good chance that he gets sent to the back of the line at 145 pounds. This is despite the fact that UFC president Dana White disagreed with the judges (h/t Bloody Elbow).

“You can’t leave it to these guys. We’ve got some bad judging. I’m sure (Holloway) is devastated. Did anybody here score it for Volkanovski? Anybody? Nobody in the media? I don’t know. We’ll have to figure it out,” White said.

“Looks like we’ve got to tighten up our refs and judges here on Fight Island,” White said.

Do you think Alex Volkanovski’s win over Max Holloway in their rematch was a robbery?