Chael Sonnen Explains Why He Disagrees With Joe Rogan's Comments On A Conor McGregor Return

Chael Sonnen has expressed a considerable amount of confusion at Joe Rogan’s recent comments about how Conor McGregor may fair if and when he returns to fighting.

“The Notorious” last stepped into the Octagon when he and Dustin Poirier met in a trilogy bout that headlined UFC 264. That fight ended after the first round when McGregor suffered a leg injury, and despite his recent coaching role on Season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter the former two-division champion still doesn’t appear to have taken any real steps to hasten his return to the cage.

Rogan recently made headlines for his suggestion that if anyone was capable of pulling off a comeback after that injury it would be McGregor, and Sonnen appeared to take serious issue with that statement in a video posted on his YouTube channel.

“That was a very baffling statement by Joe to make,” Sonnen said. “To the point where I reread it and reread and I still – as I’m talking to you guys – think that it was [written] wrong, I don’t think Joe would have said it. ‘If anybody could do it, it’s him.’ I don’t think he said it. To say something like that, you would have to have a history of doing something like that.”

Chael Sonnen Explains Skepticism About A Conor McGregor Comeback 

McGregor’s tremendous success in the Octagon made him the biggest star in the history of the UFC, but Sonnen argues that nothing the Irishman has accomplished in his career indicates that he’s capable of bouncing back after a major injury and what has now become a more than two-year layoff.

McGregor’s last fight ended after the first round. 

(Gary A. Vazquez/USA TODAY Sports)

“[I’ll] give you a great example; Randy Couture had returned from retirement. But the first time that he returned, he returned to win a world championship. So then when he takes a break and is gonna return again and he wins another championship, the third time is when people are saying ‘Well you know, he’s 47 years old but if anybody can do it it’s Randy Couture.’ That would be true…Why would it be Conor McGregor? What part of what you see within Conor McGregor lends you to believe he can flip a script?”

A meteoric rise to stardom in the UFC saw McGregor win both the featherweight and lightweight titles as well as engage in his epic two-fight series with Nate Diaz. Those four bouts all took place in less than a year, but since his 2017 boxing match with Floyd Mayweather the former UFC champion has only competed on four occasions.

Regardless of how well he may actually perform in the cage, if a return date and opponent for McGregor do eventually get announced the news will immediately dominate MMA headlines. The Irishman still seems to be teasing a return in December, but given that he still hasn’t reentered the USADA testing pool it seems far more likely that fans will have to wait until at least next year to see him fight again.

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