Having Jon Jones and/or Conor McGregor on the UFC White House card seems like a no-brainer thing to do, if you can, right? Not according to Chael Sonnen.
This summer, the UFC is planning to host an event on the South Lawn of the White House, featuring a lineup that promotion CEO Dana White has hyped as one of the best ever. For such a unique, one-off event, anyone and everyone has reached out to White, hoping to land a spot on the card, including Jones and McGregor. In fact, Jones has gone as far as begging.
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While the UFC wants to stack the card with the best possible fights today, including multiple title fights, Sonnen is of the belief that placing Jones and McGregor on the card would be a mistake.
Aside from not having a pay-per-view cost to offset the high salaries of those two big names (even though the billion-dollar price tag Paramount+ just paid for the promotion’s broadcast rights seems like it would be able to cover it), Sonnen thinks that the White House event will bring in so many new eyes, the promotion would be better off putting talent that will be around for multiple fights so those fans can see them compete again.
“You’re going to have more eyeballs on this than we’ve ever had in the history of the UFC,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “So, if you’re on the second floor of the UFC, it is not just to deliver to your fanbase, it’s to expose these new fans and to make them fans, and do as close as you can to get them to hardcore as you can.
“And what you can’t do is to expose them to something that you can’t show them again. I don’t know if you’re going to get Conor McGregor to make another walk. I don’t know. Gun-to-head type scenario – No. You’re never going to see Conor again. But even if you can get Conor to do another walk, you’re not going to get him to make another two.”
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Sonnen makes an interesting point, as White has stated he expects this event to be the most-watched in UFC history. Giving new fans the opportunity to see fighters they could potentially watch for years to come would keep their interest longer than one night.
“I can do this big thing for you, and put you at the White House, and bring all these new eyeballs and really expose you, and you’re a really rare talent,” Sonnen said. “I’m going to then leave the White House. I need you to come over here, right? Where the semi-trucks are pulling the octagon, and the tent’s getting set up, and the beer’s getting poured, and the popcorn’s getting popped. Those are the guys that I’m going to expose to this new audience, and then those guys are going to be on the radio on Monday. Those guys are going to make appearances next Saturday. Those guys are going to be around.
“Those guys are going to be what the new audience sees and says, ‘Hey, that’s the guy. That’s the guy that I watch. That’s the guy that I’m interested in.’ Those guys aren’t going to know what a Royce Gracie is. They’re not going to know what a Ken Shamrock is. They’re not going to know what a Daniel Cormier or a Chael Sonnen is. It’s just the way that it goes. It’s brand new fans.”
While White has said matchmaking for the White House event is already done, there have been no official fight confirmations. As of now, there are only unconfirmed rumors about the fight card, including matchups and the number of fights.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Analyst: Why Jones, McGregor shouldn’t fight at UFC White House
