Legendary ex-UFC star Chael Sonnen believes Conor McGregor's broken leg has allowed fighters to pluck up the courage to call him out.
The former two-weight world champion will have been sidelined through injury for over a year when he returns to the octagon. But he has remained in the headlines throughout that time with call-outs towards and from some of the biggest names in the promotion from featherweight up to welterweight.
McGregor has been pushing for a world title shot at 170lb when he makes his return, but has been called out by top fighters such as lightweight king Charles Oliveira and welterweight Jorge Masvidal. And Sonnen believes that they've become comfortable calling for a fight with the Irishman because he is physically unable to answer in the octagon.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Sonnen asked: "Where was your courage when he was licensed? Where was your courage when he was healthy? Where was your courage when he was for sure within your weight class? Where was it then?"
Certain fighters, such as his arch nemeses Khabib Nurmagomedov and Nate Diaz, avoided the American's ire due to having fought or called for fights with the Irishman in his prime. But others in the promotion weren't so lucky, with Sonnen ripping into the UFC's roster at the lower weights.
"If your name's Nate Diaz, I'm not talking to you," he continued. "If your name's Tony Ferguson, I'm not talking to you. If your name's Khabib Nurmagomedov, I'm not talking to you. There was a couple of you that did your part or were willing to do your part, that's true.
"But now all of a sudden I got twelve guys I could point that have gone to Twitter and found their balls. Where were they before his leg was snapped? It's a fair question by me and an accurate depiction of the timeline."
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The former middleweight and light-heavyweight title contender believes that the fight to make for McGregor is against Masvidal, who hasn't won since his 2019 BMF title bout with Diaz. He has been calling for McGregor since his comeback win against Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone in 2020, and now could be the perfect rival.
"Jorge Masvidal is calling out McGregor, if we don't make that fight there's something I don't get about this business," Sonnen continued. "It's probably something I'd never know that has something to do specifically with contracts, Jorge's contract and Conor's contravt is so goddamn much, something like that.
"Why are we not making that fight? Masvidal has called him out, Masvidal wants to fight him, do you have any idea the business you'd do with that fight? That is the biggest star in the history of our sport against the current second biggest draw in our sport."
