Chael Sonnen makes controversial pick for 2025 UFC Fight of the Year… ‘A star was made’

Sonnen makes his pick for UFC Fight of the Year so far

Last week on International Fight Week at UFC 317, flyweights Brandon Royval and Joshua Van clashed on the undercard and it resulted in one of the best fights so far this year.

However, UFC legend Chael Sonnen has picked the UFC 311 co-main event between Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov as his 2025 Fight of the Year so far.

Although the bantamweight title fight turned out to be an extremely exciting fight, Sonnen’s pick is regarded as controversial considering some of the other fights that have happened.

“I do have to go with Merab vs Umar, a star was made. The audience did not care about Merab at that point, just to share with you that specific night, he had to jerk the curtain before ‘Money’ (Renato) Moicano, he was not a main event style fighter and he was supposed to lose that fight,” Sonnen said on Good Guy/Bad Guy.

“I think he was close to a 3/1 underdog and in fact, Merab was losing that fight until he wasn’t, he came back and started showboating, things that people generally have been annoyed when Merab does, they started to get behind him, the audience started to get into it.

“At the end of those 25 minutes not only did he solidify and clarify that he is the best in the world, he also won over the people and that is a very difficult thing to do,” Sonnen continued.

What’s next for Merab Dvalishvili?

After his win over the Russian phenom, ‘The Machine’ went on to once again successfully defend his title in a rematch against Sean O’Malley at UFC 316.

With his win, the Georgian solidified himself as the greatest bantamweight of all time, overtaking the likes of Dominick Cruz and TJ Dillashaw.

And with that, his next test is all but confirmed to come against longtime contender Cory Sandhagen, who has been waiting for an undisputed title shot for several years now.