MMA analyst Chael Sonnen has insisted Conor McGregor needs to be talked out of his "arrogant" decision to move up to middleweight.
McGregor, 34, is hoping to become just the third UFC fighter to compete in four weight classes by moving up to 185lb having previously competed at featherweight, lightweight and welterweight. The Irishman has insisted he would be "built like a big fridge" at the weight class and gained confidence in the move after sparring middleweights and light-heavyweights.
But Sonnen thinks McGregor needs a reality check from those around him and isn't sure the move up in weight would go well for him. "Conor says he's going to up middleweight, we all have a reality that we have to face at one point as to why you should spend your time and effort going in a different direction," he said on his YouTube channel.
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"Conor can't just go up to 185lb, we want to see you win a fight in your weight class, we're not sure you can beat these guys. There's a level of proof that you need and if you have the arrogance to believe you can go up to 185 pounds and people are going to come along just because you're going to be ballooned up and somehow that's interesting. I think maybe it's time you sit down and we have that talk."
Whilst teasing his potential move up to the weight class, McGregor said fans should give him more credit for what he's achieved in the UFC. "I know I get the dough but I should get the credit too. Mostly people lying to themselves. I'm not on this throne by chance. I worked for all of this. Insanely hard," he wrote.
McGregor has been sidelined since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier last July and is targeting a return to the cage next year, whilst hoping to avoid the UFC's mandatory six month drug-testing policy. 'Notorious' will unlikely be able to fight until the summer but he wants to book his return fight in the first few months of 2023.
The former two-weight champion also wrote of his comeback: "I've beat everyone I've fought multiple times in the UFC. I'm the boss of the business. Let them lie to themselves. They'll be forced into another one, they can't run. Well, I suppose they could but they won't. They are goers in fairness so respect that but no mistake, they're not looking forward to it."
