Conor McGregor recently reacted to a throwback video of Chael Sonnen railing against Anderson Silva while trying to pick a fight with the Brazilian. McGregor couldn't help but commend the mastery with which Sonnen laced into 'The Spider'.
Psychological warfare remains a cardinal factor in establishing a certain advantage over an opponent in combat sports. War of nerves remains an integral part of MMA, and two of the very best to ever do so remain Chael Sonnen and Conor McGregor.
Sonnen cranked up the browbeat to another level to lure Anderson Silva into a fight. Following his victory over Nate Marquardt at UFC 109, Sonnen delivered an iconic post-fight interview calling out Anderson Silva.
Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more
'The American Gangster' continued the verbal onslaught during his interview with MMA reporter Ariel Helwani after the event when he was asked what fans can expect in the weeks leading up to the fight:
"Well it will be a verbal beating. Anderson Silva will be in tears before it's all over. Look, there's just a lot out there on the guy, I mean this guy's no more real then the Loch Ness Monster."
Sonnen referred to the Loch Ness Monster, a fictional creature in the Scottish mythos that is said to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands while calling Silva disingenuous.
Conor McGregor, a master of the craft himself, reacted to the video by lauding Sonnen's proficiency:
"😂😂 a real classic bad motherf**ker is Chael P. Gotta give it to him."
Chael Sonnen talks about whether Conor McGregor can beat his own pay-per-view records when he returns to the octagon
McGregor has been out of competition ever since he suffered a horrific leg injury in his third fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. The Irish MMA superstar has confirmed that he has resumed full training, and his team has stated that they are eying a return in early 2023.
While Conor McGregor remains confident that his return will be scripted as one of the greatest comebacks in sports history, a clear path to his return remains contentious.
Former UFC middleweight Chael Sonnen played match-maker for Conor McGregor while also claiming that he does not see a definite plan for the Irishman to break his own pay-per-view record:
"I don't know if he can come in and beat his own records at this point. He can beat everyone else we got on the side, but I don't know if he can beat himself. Because I think he needs an opponent now. I don't think that's ever been true."
Sonnen added:
"Unless we put him there against the winner of Islam-Charles, which I don't think we are going to do. I don't think that's still viable. And if we are not going to do that, who do we put him in there with? Nate Diaz is gone. That story works all day. Trilogy, a true trilogy, where they split the first two, works all day long."
Sonnen claims that while McGregor can return against the likes of Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler, he does not see a clear road for 'The Notorious' to break his own pay-per-view records.
Watch the video from 5:30 below: