Who's going to watch Francis Ngannou if Chael P. Sonnen is fighting?

From the second Alistair Overeem’s head bounced off the canvas at UFC 218, there’s been insane buzz for Francis Ngannou’s title shot against UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic.

It’s only gotten stronger with a killer promo, press conference and somewhat nutty set of stats on Ngannou power.

The UFC 220 pay-per-view headliner on Jan. 20 at Boston’s TD Garden has been billed as the most highly anticipated heavyweight matchup in years. But the real main attraction isn’t Ngannou (11-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) and Miocic (17-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC).

It’s Chael Sonnen – according to Chael Sonnen, anyway.

“Ngannou’s going to be given his opportunity right at the first of the year,” Sonnen recently said on his podcast, “You’re Welcome.” “Sadly for Ngannou, nobody’s going to watch him fight. I think him vs. Stipe is a very interesting one. The problem is, I’m fighting at the exact same time on free TV.”

Even Sonnen’s producer couldn’t keep a straight face for that one.

“So who the hell is going to sit there and watch Ngannou when Chael P. is up? Fair question, though, right?” Sonnen continued. “And how many people go on pay-per-view and watch it after the fact? If it was free TV, maybe you would DVR it and watch it afterward. So it’s going to be crickets and nobody’s going to see it.”

In case you haven’t heard, Sonnen (30-14-1 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) is facing Quinton Jackson (37-12 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) in the Paramount-televised co-headliner of Bellator 192, which takes place Jan. 20 at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. It’s part of the opening round of Bellator’s eight-man heavyweight grand prix, which awards the vacant belt to the winner of the tourney, which features a mix of veteran heavyweights and light heavyweights.

Sonnen has declared he wants Bellator to beat the UFC in a head-to-head contest for ratings, so consider his most recent interview with that in mind – and also that it’s Sonnen, the guy who helped write the blueprint for self-promotion in modern MMA.

For more on UFC 220 and Bellator 192, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.

The Blue Corner is MMAjunkie‘s official blog and is edited by Mike Bohn.