Chael Sonnen blasts Conor McGregor and explains why Irishman postpones UFC return

Photos: Conor McGregor has not fought since 2021 (Photo: Reproduction/X)

Without fighting for almost four years, Conor McGregor recently stated that 'greatness is in no hurry', when justifying the delay in returning to the UFC octagon. Former fighter and commentator for the organization, Chael Sonnen didn't seem at all convinced by the Irishman's statement.

In a recent edition of ESPN's Good Guy/Bad Guy podcast, Sonnen commented on McGregor's speech and questioned the former champion's mentality.

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“He simply said, ‘Greatness is not rushed.’ He made that statement four days ago and I remember immediately disagreeing! If you don’t have the urgency, if you don’t have the feeling that you need to do it now, if you don’t have something burning inside you, you can kick the bucket and live with it, if you have the option to compete, but you choose not to compete? Greatness is rushed. Everything in sports needs to be done now and that used to be his mentality. The moment he said that, I knew he was stalling,” said the commentator.

In Sonnen's opinion, McGregor's avoidance of returning to the UFC octagon has much more to do with a possible inability to defeat any athlete under contract with the organization, regardless of weight class.

“He’s got a beating waiting for him. We can go to lightweight, welterweight, even invent a weight class. There’s no athlete under contract with the UFC that he can beat. I’m not even saying this to be a jerk. When they bring him back, they’re going to put him in the main event. They’re going to ask him to fight five rounds, a guy who can’t even breathe for a whole round. That’s the truth. There’s no reason to come back. There’s a beating waiting for you,” he concluded.