Chael Sonnen Dismisses ‘Foolish’ Hope of Conor McGregor UFC Comeback
If you’re still holding out hope to see Conor McGregor back inside the Octagon, Chael Sonnen has some bad news for you.
It’s been more than three years since we last saw the Irish megastar strap on a pair of four-ounce gloves for his disastrous trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. In the time since, rumors regarding his quote-unquote “greatest comeback in combat sports history” have continuously dominated headlines.
Still, it feels as though we are no closer to seeing the former two-division titleholder back inside the Octagon than we were the day after his devastating leg break in July 2021.
A sad fact when you consider that McGregor was scheduled to headline UFC 303 on June 29 against Michael Chandler before bowing out due to a broken pinky toe weeks ahead of fight night.
McGregor’s purported opponent for his long-awaited return, Michael Chandler, appears to have finally run out of patience as he is now scheduled to square off with former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira at UFC 309 on Saturday, November 16.
With Chandler moving on, three-time title challenger Chael Sonnen thinks that’ll pretty much put the nail in the coffin when it comes to ever seeing ‘Mac’ inside the eight-sided cage again.
“I don’t know what to make of Conor. We’re looking foolish at this point by continuing to act as though he’s going to come back,” Sonnen said of McGregor during a recent episode of Good Guy/Bad Guy. “The truth is, the night he went down broken in two against Dustin Poirier, it was unlikely he was going to return. When he got other opportunities. Selling the whiskey brand, and finding himself in movies with Jake Gyllenhaal, it was unlikely that Conor was going to return…
“He got a stubbed pinky toe, that may or may not be broken and may or may not belong to him. When he walked away from a press conference in his hometown. And didn’t show up to [UFC 303], it was unlikely. Even baseball tells you three strikes, you’re out. At some point, we all have to accept this and move on” (h/t BJPenn.com).
Chandler Still Confident that Conor McGregor Returns
While Michael Chandler is putting the McGregor fight behind him for the time being, the former Bellator titleholder still believes that the Irishman isn’t done fighting just yet.
“I do think [he returns],” Chandler told MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin. “Maybe I’ve just been so close to it and so focused on it that you just look at his history, Conor McGregor is a nothing, nobody without the sport of mixed martial arts. Without the UFC platform. Without the legacy that he has created.
“I believe he’s romantic about it. I believe that he loves the sport. I believe that his spirit loves the sport but sometimes his body and his brain want other things. I’ve never walked a mile in that man’s shoes, neither have you, so who are we to critique him? But I do believe he comes back and when he does, I’ll be waiting. I just might have the title by then.”
