Chael Sonnen Criticizes Conor McGregor’s Slow, Soft Training: “Isn’t ready to fight”
Conor McGregor isn’t ready to fight. That’s the opinion of three-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen who had plenty to say about McGregor’s latest training footage.
On both Instagram and X, the Irish megastar shared a video clip of him hitting the heavy bag while promoting this weekend’s BKFC 65 card headlined by a women’s flyweight championship bout between defending titleholder Christine Ferea and challenger Jade-Masson Wong.
Breaking down the footage, ‘The American Gangster’ dubbed McGregor’s efforts as both “slow” and “soft” and suggested that we’ve seen the last of ‘Mystic Mac’ inside the Octagon.
“It’s the things that aren’t in the video… I thought it was a vacation video… When I talk about what’s not in the video, a gym, let’s start with that,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “A coach, let’s lead with that. Teammates, let’s go to that. You cannot get better without a team and nobody ever has… I’m watching Conor, and it’s not a workout. It’s soft. It’s slow and methodical.
“It’s too soft to be a warmup, not to mention warming up for what? There’s no coach here. There are no partners here… It’s also too slow to be a cool-down… There are some absolute tells that a guy isn’t ready to fight… If a guy ever exercises or trains with a hat on, it is over” (h/t Sportskeeda).
Is Michael Chandler finally ready to move on from Conor mcGregor?
McGregor was originally scheduled to return to the Octagon on June 29 for a main event scrap with ‘Iron’ Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, McGregor bowed out of the bout after breaking his pinky toe while training.
He has since lobbied for a rescheduled date in December, though no official announcements have been made.
Chandler, who has been holding out for a fight with McGregor for nearly two years, finally seems ready to move on, suggesting that a fight with Charles Oliveira could be a suitable replacement.
Former BMF titleholder Jorge Masvidal also suggested that a clash with ‘Iron’ could be in the cards for late 2024 or early 2025 as he closes in on his return to mixed martial arts.
“It could be this year,” Masvidal told MMA Fighting while talking about his next fight. “It could be Vegas, Dec. 7. I’ll f*cking drop Michael Chandler dead on his ass. It could be next year, Super Bowl, knock somebody else on their ass. I don’t know. I don’t quite know yet.”
