Chael Sonnen criticizes Ankalaev's exclusion from vacant title fight

Chael Sonnen publicly criticized the decision not to include Magomed Ankalaev in the vacant light heavyweight title fight. Sonnen pointed out that Ankalaev has a 1-1 record with Pereira and is the only person in the division who has defeated him, yet he wasn't even discussed as a potential title fight participant. Sonnen expressed confusion over why the title fight doesn't feature what he considers the division's most exciting fighter (Rountree), most intriguing (Jamal), or most accomplished (Ankalaev). He argued that the storyline for the current title matchup is so weak that people aren't even discussing the absence of more deserving contenders, concluding that both participants in the scheduled fight are the wrong choices.