Chael Sonnen Says Charles Oliveira May Not Be Able to Deal With the Attention Before Tony Ferguson Fight

Chael Sonnen recently shared his take on the upcoming lightweight clash between Tony Ferguson and Charles Oliveira. The west Lynn Oregon native expressed his take on both the fighters and predicted what might be the deciding factor in this fight. Sonnen believes both fighters are tremendous competitors but gave “El Cucuy” the edge, considering his experience to fight under the big lights.

Chael Sonnen discusses Ferguson Vs Oliveira

On the ‘You’re Welcome with Chael Sonnen’ podcast, he said, “I would give it to Tony. But That’s largely because of what you see, right? We’ve seen Tony go out there. We’ve seen him beat up a lot of people. We hear that Oliveira did. He just didn’t have the same amount of eyes on him. If you go look at his record, you wanna see who’s hungrier. I think that’s a very debatable topic. I would imagine that Oliveira is a pretty hungry guy right now.”

The former UFC middleweight and light-heavyweight title challenger also added that Ferguson never backs down from a fight and has the experience to fight in high-profile bouts. Oliveira, on the other hand, is a fantastic tighter, but he lacks the exposure, unlike Tony Ferguson.

“He has never been given a fight this high profile. Is that gonna be a springboard? For a lot of guys it is. In hindsight, for a lot of guys it’s a real springboard and for some other guys, boy, they underperform. One thing we have seen with Tony is consistency.” said Sonnen.

Even in his fight with Gaethje, I realize that was a very one-sided fight. But it wasn’t one-sided because Tony shut down. He kept getting beat to the punch. He was trying the whole time; he was pushing through all the way till the fight was called off. He never failed down, balled up, or wanted it called off.

“I think Tony is a great competitor and I see the same with Oliveira, but that would be a question mark. How is he gonna deal with so much attention on him? It’s something new. He might love it but he might not.” Sonnen added.

Tony Ferguson vs Charles Oliveira is set for UFC 256

Tony Ferguson is looking to get back into the win column after his loss to Gaethje. Ferguson has only lost once in the last 8 years. He is also the former interim lightweight champion. He has had plenty of high-profile fights throughout his career and never failed to perform.

Oliveira is also on a 7 fight win streak. He is often regarded as the most underrated lightweight on the planet. This is a big opportunity for him to fight against a star like Ferguson. A win for “Do Bronx” will make him a title contender for sure. But it will be his toughest test to date, as Ferguson is one of a kind. And as Chael Sonnen mentioned, Oliveira doesn’t really have the experience of fighting when people are watching him.

Who do you think gets the win at UFC 256? Let us know in the comments.