Den forne titelutmanaren Chael Sonnen fortsätter att hylla den frispråkige irländska fjäderviktaren Conor McGregor, som har skapat stora rubriker med sitt agerande likväl inne som utanför buren.
I det senaste avsnittet av Bruce Buffers podcast “It’s Time!” berättar Sonnen att McGregor gör allt rätt och kan leverera när det väl gäller.
I love everything that Conor McGregor is doing. He’s very entertaining, and I think he’s an outstanding fighter. He dealt with a tremendous amount of pressure when he fought in his hometown in a main event in Ireland. He sold that out, it was packed, and the whole thing was based around him.
Diego Brandao is about as tough a costumer as you’re going to get, particularly in the first round, and Conor was able to finish him inside of five minutes.
Sonnen fortsätter med att berätta att det finns mycket mer bakom McGregors ”trashtalk” än vad de flesta tror.
When I watch people talk about Conor McGregor and say that he’s talking trash, they don’t understand what he’s doing and not listening to his interviews. Conor’s not talking trash. There’s some stuff getting thrown in there, sure. There are some guys he’s bringing down. He’s talking himself up. He’s not always insulting other guys, but a little of that happens. He’s out there entertaining. He has something to say.
You’ll have these fighters that come out and say, ‘I’m not here to talk. I’m here to fight. I’m a fighter.’ Well that’s not really true when you’re sitting there at a press conference wearing a suit. You’re not there to fight; you are there to talk. That’s what a press conference is, genius. When you’re doing a post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, you’re not there to fight. You’re there to do the interview. That’s why he’s holding the microphone.
Some of these guys just don’t understand it, and what Conor McGregor is more than he’s a great trash talker, he’s a great entertainer. The guy’s got a great gimmick, a unique look and a great accent. He’s patriotic to his country. He’s an Irishman.
Sonenn är dock osäker om McGregor skulle klara av att besegra några av de tre bästa killarna i viktklassen, men skulle irländaren klara av det skulle Sonnen vara imponerad av den bedriften.
To speak to Conor’s skills, I think everything is in place there. Is he good enough to beat the top three? Frankie Edgar, one of the greatest of all-time, Chad Mendes and Jose Aldo, one of the greatest of all time? I don’t know. We’ll just have to see. I would be very impressed if he did.
McGregor kommer att ta sig an tysken Dennis Siver på UFC Fight Night 59 i Boston i sin nästa match.
