Conor McGregor has been in the news lately, on account of proposing a couple of bouts that would take place outside the UFC. In addition, the star has also had some interesting, public exchanges with UFC President Dana White.
Well, following all that, Chael Sonnen recently had some advice/warnings, for the former UFC champ.
Sonnen warns McGregor to steer clear of the “promoting game”
McGregor made headlines in recent weeks after he shared out images of what was a text message exchange he had with White, earlier this year. In the correspondence, McGregor was pushing for his next bout and proposed fights with Justin Gaethje and Diego Sanchez.
White was upset with McGregor for posting the texts, but the star countered that he did so to prove he was in fact, looking to fight this past spring. When McGregor retired in June, he relayed he was frustrated that booking his next fight had been so problematic.
After that, McGregor also claimed he was going to box Manny Pacquiao next, and then he challenged Dustin Poirier to a charity match in Ireland this December.
Since all that went down, Sonnen spoke with MMA Fighting. While talking about McGregor, and his recent actions, “The American Gangster” said this.
“I wish Conor the best, but if I could give Conor any advice, and I’ve given him plenty over the years – do not go into the promoting game,” Sonnen said.
“You’re going to fall on your face, and you don’t know what you’re doing.”
Due to the fact McGregor has a contract with the UFC, the consensus has been that anything the star wants to do, fighting wise, for charity or not, will require the promotion’s sign-off.
“I don’t think Conor will ever promote a fight any more than Floyd Mayweather ever promoted a boxing event,” Sonnen said. “Floyd runs around with TMZ and the Money Team – you couldn’t pull into their office right now if you wanted to, because it doesn’t exist.
It’s not real, any more than McGregor Sports and Entertainment is real. It’s just some names that they put on a letter and file for a tax ID number. These aren’t real things. But he needs to keep it that way.
“I’m not kicking Conor right now. I really don’t care what he does one way or the other.
I’ve watched these guys go broke all the time. The inmates cannot run the asylum. There’s a few people alive that know how to promote.
Everybody else is going to lose money. Conor is going to lose money.”
Reaction?
Now, a lot of what McGregor’s been doing has likely been a means to rattle White and the UFC a little. He didn’t seem happy with the fact he was kept on the sidelines (although, it’s likely McGregor would like to fight Poirier for charity, if it was doable).
If McGregor wasn’t signed to the UFC, maybe he could have some success promoting his own bouts, via his own company. After all, he is gifted on the mic and there’s no question McGregor has a massive platform.
Then again, considering how massive the UFC is and how the MMA industry is currently set up, Sonnen’s concerns seem valid.
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