In a sense, there was a whole lot of logic behind the idea of matching Chael Sonnen up against Jon Jones.
If Jones is able to defeat Dan Henderson next week at UFC 151, then the reigning UFC Light Heavyweight Champion will have effectively cleaned out an entire generation of elite light heavyweights, beating Henderson, Rashad Evans, Lyoto Machida, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (Henderson, at the age of 41, spans generations, but we'll include him in this group for argument's sake). Another crop is on the way in the form of fighters like Glover Teixeira, Phil Davis and Alexander Gustafsson, but they're not quite ready. Enter Chael P. Sonnen, talking trash with the best of them, and you have a nice little placeholder fight to keep Jones active and in the spotlight before moving on to the next generation.
There's just one problem. It's the Ultimate Fighting Championship, not the Ultimate Talking Championship, and while Sonnen could undoubtedly put together a nice box office and pay-per-view draw in a matchup with the champion, he's going to need to prove himself at 205 pounds first.
And, as UFC president Dana White reminded the MMA world on Tuesday, it's going to take a lot more than a win over a declining Forrest Griffin to make that happen. Speaking on a Las Vegas morning radio show, White said that Sonnen is "a long way away" from a shot at Jones, and will need to win at least one more fight at 205 before he can be considered for a title shot.
While a Jones-Sonnen fight could be a great draw, the UFC needs to maintain a certain amount of integrity in terms of who qualifies for a title shot. That doesn't mean that certain fighters can't be put on a fast track - witness Jake Shields getting a shot at Georges St-Pierre after a less-than-convincing win over Martin Kampmann in his UFC debut - but it does mean that a fighter coming up from middleweight can't get a title shot after one win over a former champion who's pretty clearly in decline.
Besides, if Jones can defend his title against Henderson and come out without any major injuries, the rematch with top-contender-in-waiting Machida could wind up being the only "placeholder" he needs. By the time Sonnen is done with Griffin, Teixeira will have taken on Rampage, while Gustafsson will have fought Rua. A win for either could be enough for a shot at Jones, particularly for Teixeira, who's the oldest of the up-and-comers at age 32. If Sonnen is going to get a shot, it's not going to be through convenient timing and entertaining trash talk.
The thing that people forget about Sonnen is that he didn't get his first fight with Silva by talking. He got it by beating Dan Miller, Yushin Okami and Nate Marquardt. He got his second fight with Silva by pushing "The Spider" further than he'd ever been pushed before, then coming back and beating Brian Stann and Michael Bisping. Talk helped sell the fights, but it didn't make the fights. To make the fight with Jon Jones, Chael Sonnen is going to need to make some waves in the Octagon, and Griffin can only be the beginning.
In the end, that should be fine for Sonnen. Given his penchant for talking about Brazilians, he'd certainly have ready-made matchups with Rua and/or Machida. The latter even offers the bonus attractions of Black House manager/Sonnen punching bag Ed Soares and film star/"trainer" Steven Seagal. And who knows? It's quite possible that Sonnen has what it takes to win those fights and earn a shot with Jones.
We won't know, however, until he tries.
