Chael Sonnen has serious doubts about Conor McGregor ever making a UFC return, but if he’s proven wrong, he doesn’t think the promotion intends to give “The Notorious” a layup.
McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) has claimed he will fight for the first time since July 2021 at the UFC’s planned event at the White House in Washington, D.C., on June 14. UFC CEO Dana White has largely expressed public cooperation to that idea, until recently when he stated he’s not sure where things stand with “The Notorious.”
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Moreover, White told Complex that, should it materialize, he is no longer interested in McGregor fighting Michael Chandler (23-10 MMA, 2-5 UFC), who has been attached to the matchup since the pair filmed “The Ultimate Fighter 31” reality show in 2023. They were booked to fight at UFC 303 in June 2024 before McGregor withdrew due to injury.
Three-time UFC title challenger and longtime analyst Sonnen is somewhat perplexed by moving away from McGregor vs. Chandler because it’s the easy sell. However, he interprets something more significant on McGregor’s end when reading between the lines of White’s comments.
“The reason that Chandler made a lot of sense is that I don’t (need to) know anything about that fight,” Sonnen told MMA Junkie. “I don’t know if it’s going to be three rounds, five rounds, co-main event, main event, if they’re going to make up a belt – I don’t know anything about that fight, other than I know that fight will not happen at 155 pounds. Conor McGregor is not going to weigh 155 again. Are we going to do a catchweight of 165? Are we going to make it 170?
“The reason that Chandler worked is the weight class doesn’t matter. The ranking doesn’t matter. The fight really doesn’t matter. This is about drawing and selling tickets and Conor McGregor. … My larger interpretation was just that Conor was off the card. I know that’s not what was said, but why would it not be Chandler? Chandler does make a lot of sense.”
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If Sonnen puts on his hat of optimism and McGregor does compete for just the fifth time since November 2016, then he suspects White’s shift from Chandler comes with a purpose. That would be giving him an opponent who has a more fruitful future upside with the company off the back of a McGregor win.
“If you’re going to do the fans a favor by putting him on the card, if you’re going to do Conor a favor and you’ve got to write him this great, big check – it’s not going to be about fun,” Sonnen said. “It’s going to be about somebody that’s going to come in, grab that (and) can come back and do two or three more fights for the company. And that would disqualify Nate (Diaz) or (Jorge) Masvidal, in my opinion.
“My guess first and foremost is that Conor is not going to be part of this, that Conor is fully retired. Secondly, if he comes back and they write him that check, they’re going to give him a real guy.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Chael Sonnen: UFC wants Conor McGregor vs. ‘a real guy’ at White House
