Chael Sonnen excited about Bellator's light-heavyweight division

Chael Sonnen has spoken of his excitement surrounding the Bellator light-heavyweight division, ahead of this weekend's meeting between Phil Davis and Lyoto Machida.

The promotion's 205lb division is not found wanting for big names right now, and has become all the more interesting after Vadim Nemkov stopped Ryan Bader last month to win the title.

"I'll tell you this about the Bellator light-heavyweight division, it's growing," Sonnen told Sky Sports.

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"They just signed Corey Anderson. Nobody knows who Corey's opponents are going to be. There's some very good options there. There's a rumour that it's going to be the winner of Phil Davis versus Lyoto Machida. I tend to believe that rumour just because the dates match up. But I can tell you, there's another signing coming that hasn't been announced yet.

"It's growing, and it's getting deeper and deeper. It's a hard place to be right now."

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Cross-promotion fights?

With so many possibilities for MMA in the coming months due to the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, there is talk there could be cross-promotion cards in the offing.

But Sonnen does not see the UFC getting involved.

"Not specifically when you say the UFC. I just don't think they're in a jam right now," he said. "In fact I heard (UFC president) Dana (White) say a lot of things, 'I owe a lot of guys three fights a year. I'm struggling for venues and dates, but I'm going to figure this thing out'.

"But no, I don't think he's looking to do matches like that.

"Scott Coker (Bellator CEO) has been very open to the co-promote, he even did a couple of them, with Rizin. So Scott Coker is open to that idea. But I don't think the UFC is looking to team up with anybody."

Nonetheless, if contracts were not an issue and Sonnen had the power to make any fight, who would he put in a cage together?

"I'm still a Fedor Emelianenko [fan]. When he walks in a room, I feel something. There's still a big presence there, and I'm not alone," he said.

"I don't necessarily need to see Fedor with a Stipe [Miocic]-type guy, but there are guys I would like to see Fedor with. There was talk about getting Brock Lesnar, just by example. If you're asking me about a dream fight, I'd give you anything I want, I also think Jon Jones vs Fedor is very compelling. Fedor is not an overly big heavyweight, Jon Jones is worried about his size.

"I think there's a lot of big names, and I think there's something special there."

Watch Bellator 245 on Saturday from 3am on Sky Sports Mix. Bellator 246 is live on Sky Sports Arena from 3am, Sunday morning