According to UFC president Dana White, their reason for doing so was due to McGregor’s refusal to partake in the usual media obligations that every fight headliner is required to go through.
“Obviously we still have a good relationship with Conor. I respect Conor as a fighter and I like him as a person,” White said. “But you can’t decide not to show up to these things. You have to do it.”
Many of McGregor’s fellow fighters were either skeptical about the legitimacy of his statements. But for Chael Sonnen, the situation is pretty simple: the UFC and McGregor are at odds, as far as the contract goes.
“It’s a contract dispute,” Sonnen said in a Facebook Q&A. “I don’t have any inside info on this, just being around the business since the 90’s, I know how it worked, I know how this whole thing went down.”
McGregor has so far gotten everything he had demanded for. After winning the featherweight world title in December at UFC 194, he instead opted to fight for Rafael Dos Anjos’ lightweight title, in which the UFC had agreed to.
This had left fighters like Frankie Edgar completely dissatisfied, especially after being promised a shot at the 145-pound title upon defeating Chad Mendes via first round KO at the TUF 22 Finale.
And according to Sonnen, the current disarray was caused by McGregor trying to leverage the UFC into agreeing to his own terms.
“Conor has a contract, he made a deal,” he said. “Somewhere he didn’t sign it, let the promotion go out, let the money get spent and then realized, ‘I’ve got the upper hand. Now I can go back and renegotiate, who’s going to tell me now when the advertising’s already done.’”
“That’s what he did, guaranteed. That’s not going to work.”
The UFC has not yet announced their intended replacement for McGregor. Sonnen, however, seems to already have an idea on who the company’s execs may tap to step in.
“I guarantee you, Georges St-Pierre’s phone is blowing up right now,” Sonnen said. “And he’s getting a big offer. That’s the guy they’re gonna go after.”
Retired UFC veteran Chael Sonnen commented on the recent situation between the UFC and Conor McGregor.
On Tuesday, Conor McGregor managed to shock the world once again after declaring his decision to “retire young“.
According to UFC president Dana White, their reason for doing so was due to McGregor’s refusal to partake in the usual media obligations that every fight headliner is required to go through.
“Obviously we still have a good relationship with Conor. I respect Conor as a fighter and I like him as a person,” White said. “But you can’t decide not to show up to these things. You have to do it.”
Many of McGregor’s fellow fighters were either skeptical about the legitimacy of his statements. But for Chael Sonnen, the situation is pretty simple: the UFC and McGregor are at odds, as far as the contract goes.
“It’s a contract dispute,” Sonnen said in a Facebook Q&A. “I don’t have any inside info on this, just being around the business since the 90’s, I know how it worked, I know how this whole thing went down.”
McGregor has so far gotten everything he had demanded for. After winning the featherweight world title in December at UFC 194, he instead opted to fight for Rafael Dos Anjos’ lightweight title, in which the UFC had agreed to.
This had left fighters like Frankie Edgar completely dissatisfied, especially after being promised a shot at the 145-pound title upon defeating Chad Mendes via first round KO at the TUF 22 Finale.
And according to Sonnen, the current disarray was caused by McGregor trying to leverage the UFC into agreeing to his own terms.
“Conor has a contract, he made a deal,” he said. “Somewhere he didn’t sign it, let the promotion go out, let the money get spent and then realized, ‘I’ve got the upper hand. Now I can go back and renegotiate, who’s going to tell me now when the advertising’s already done.’”
“That’s what he did, guaranteed. That’s not going to work.”
The UFC has not yet announced their intended replacement for McGregor. Sonnen, however, seems to already have an idea on who the company’s execs may tap to step in.
“I guarantee you, Georges St-Pierre’s phone is blowing up right now,” Sonnen said. “And he’s getting a big offer. That’s the guy they’re gonna go after.”
