Dricus du Plessis, who’s gearing up for a fight against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319, got the whole fight community talking when he dropped a bombshell of inside information. So far, Dana White and Co. have yet to reveal who’ll fight in the co-main event of the aforementioned PPV, but it seems like du Plessis accidentally leaked those plans. It includes a lightweight fight, but UFC legend Chael Sonnen does not seem too thrilled about it because it could affect Ilia Topuria’s legacy.

After Ilia Topuria‘s win over Charles Oliveira, it led Joe Rogan to let Paddy Pimblett come inside the Octagon for a face-off. This raised the anticipation among fans about a potential fight between them since the duo already has a beef that started back in UFC 282. However, Dana White was not too thrilled about Rogan letting Pimblett inside the Octagon, and as it appears, he didn’t have any plans for a Topuria vs Pimblett fight.

According to Dricus du Plessis, the UFC 319 co-main event will have Justin Gaethje fighting Paddy Pimblett, which Chael Sonnen is opposed to. He believes both lightweights should get individual title shots, but the first and foremost contender who should be getting the title shot is Arman Tsarukyan. The Armenian star weighed in as the backup fighter last weekend, pleasing Dana White, prompting ‘The American Gangster’ to side with ‘Ahalkalakets’.

“You have the organic marketing… I would not Paddy vs Gaethje in the meantime… Tsarukyan had the shot. We know he’s good enough. He weighed in 1 ounce overweight. He would have already fought for a title on Saturday,” Chael Sonnen stated on the Good Guy/Bad Guy show. The UFC legend also mentioned that, given the crowd reception last weekend, Dana White already has the engagement required to put on a fight between Paddy Pimblett and Ilia Topuria, just like Joe Rogan wants.

Hence, it is a more viable option for Dana White to pit the champion against the Scouser first and then give Justin Gaethje a shot, while Arman Tsarukyan gets due and fights for the title before the two aforementioned contenders. “Both guys [Gaethje and Pimblett] have very strong arguments. I just think we can do both. And Ilia is most certainly willing. The problem you run into is the bigger fight is Paddy ‘The Baddy,'” Chael Sonnen added. “In many ways, you’re safe to do Paddy first, just to make you preserve that opportunity because Tsarukyan can come in, close the book on this whole damn thing. He’s good, bro.”

Chael Sonnen was right to support Arman Tsarukyan over Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett because he should be fighting for the belt before them. In the same way, another former UFC fighter spoke out in support of the Armenian star. Let’s see what he said.

Arman Tsarukyan should fight Ilia Topuria, claims ex-UFC fighter

Arman Tsarukyan withdrew from UFC 311 due to a back injury that prevented him from attending the weigh-ins. Many fans and MMA experts believe he faced issues with his weight cut. Last weekend, Tsarukyan corrected his mistake by weighing in as the backup fighter. Josh Thomson thought he should be next in line for Ilia Topuria.

“I think because Arman made the weight, showed up as the back-up, it kinda rights the wrong for Dana White,” Josh Thomson stated on the Weighing In podcast. “He righted the wrong. I honestly believe that he’s gonna end up being next.” He also mentioned how Topuria has just become the champion of the division, so pairing him up against Paddy Pimblett before Tsarukyan may not be a wise move.

“I don’t think that they’re gonna put Paddy next because I think they wanna keep Ilia there for a little bit. They’re like, look, let’s get the Arman fight, and then let’s get the Paddy fight. Let’s see what happens,” Josh Thomson added.

Matt Brown, a well-known UFC veteran, recently said that if Topuria beats Tsarukyan, he will cement his place in history with Jon Jones. He talked about how deep the lightweight class is and how a fight with Tsarukyan would be more important than a fight with Pimblett, even if he knows that the latter would be more popular.

Well, everything depends on Dana White and what he wants to do with the lightweight title picture moving forward. But what do you think will be the right move? Drop your comments below.