Chael
Sonnen is worried about Tom
Aspinall being caught in the crossfire between Dana White and
Eddie Hearn.
Aspinall’s relationship with White has been strained since his
first heavyweight title defense against Ciryl Gane
at UFC 320
this past October. The fight ended in a no contest after Gane eye
poked Aspinall, leaving him unable to continue. Dana White hinted
that he was unimpressed by Aspinall’s decision to stop fighting,
saying that the Englishman didn’t look like he wanted to be in
there with Gane. Aspinall didn’t hide his disappointment with
White’s comments. While Aspinall underwent multiple surgeries,
White further downplayed the injury, saying they were likely
injections.
Aspinall (15-3) recently escalated things by signing with the
management of Eddie Hearn, considered a longtime rival of White.
Hearn has since taken multiple digs at Aspinall’s
UFC contract, calling it a disgrace. Sonnen says he was
supporting Aspinall when “Honey Badger” was calling for Jon Jones to
be stripped of the heavyweight title due to inactivity. However,
Sonnen now sees Aspinall stalling the division by reconsidering his
contract with the UFC. The UFC alum is concerned about Aspinall
being used in the spat between White and Hearn.
‘If You Want to Make Money, Fight’
“One year ago, Tom was saying things like, ‘I’m the active
champion. I don’t care about Jon Jones. I
just care about the belt. If you can’t get him to the ring, take
the belt off, give it to me.’ We all supported that because Tom was
completely correct,” Sonnen told Helen Yee. “And now one year later Tom is
the one that appears to be holding out. Tom is the one to be
saying, ‘Oh, I gotta sit down and re-look at these contracts.’ I
don’t blame this one Tom, this is the nature of the business. But I
do fear that Tom is being used in a public fight between Eddie and
Dana. And I don’t want Tom used like that. If you want to make
money, fight.”