MMA star and now analyst Chael Sonnen is highly skeptical of the boxing exhibition between Conor McGregor and Logan Paul ever taking place. This is after he's seen the former UFC double champ call out several big names in the combat sports world without ever stepping inside the ring with them.
"The Notorious" is arguably the most popular MMA star ever and he's made several claims about his Octagon return since losing to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. But after he pulled out from a highly-anticipated fight against Michael Chandler at UFC 303, fans started doubting whether he would ever fight again.
However, the 36-year-old caught everyone off guard with an announcement that he was in talks with Mukesh Ambani, a billionaire, for a boxing match in India against the Youtuber turned WWE Superstar Logan Paul. The news unsurprisingly gained a lot of steam on the internet thanks to reports claiming the Irishman would bag a staggering paycheck of $250 million for his participation.
Soon, UFC CEO Dana White, a key player in the business, turned down McGregor’s claims and vouched for his return to the Octagon by the fall of 2025.
Now, Sonnen has joined White as well because he believes that the McGregor's recent call outs do not mean much. In fact, there've been over 10 fighters that have been called out by the Dubliner in the past few years and none of these fights were ever close to being finalized.
“Meanwhile, getting reports, Conor McGregor is going to box Logan Paul, which is just silly. And Conor McGregor, a great performer and magician, has now called out 11 people in a row, and none of which he fought. I couldn't even list them all. When he started bringing in Pacquiao, the Crawford, that redheaded kid, and all the MMA guys and the bare-knuckled guys—it's 11. He's at 11. Eleven—the top draw who never calls for things that he doesn't have the power to have—gets turned down publicly 11 times, which is about nine more times than anyone in their entire career.”
McGregor hasn’t fought anyone in the Octagon since 2021 and the last time he stepped in the boxing ring was in 2017 in one of the highest-grossing PPV events of all time against undefeated boxing great Floyd Mayweather.
However, Mayweather vs. McGregor was officially co-promoted by White and since McGregor is still signed to UFC, his return to boxing does not seem likely without the UFC CEO's approval.