Conor McGregor may be making a serious “miscalculation” when he faces Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone in their main event at UFC 246 in Las Vegas in January, according to former MMA fighter turned pundit Chael Sonnen.
McGregor’s long-awaited return to the Octagon was confirmed on Thursday by UFC chief Dana White, who said the former two-weight world champion has penned an agreement to face Cerrone in a welterweight bout at T-Mobile Arena on January 18.
It will be the first time McGregor, 31, has fought since suffering a fourth-round defeat to Russian lightweight ruler Khabib Nurmagomedov in October of 2018.
In contrast, Cerrone, 36, has fought four times in 2019 alone, being beaten in his past two fights by Tony Ferguson in June and Justin Gaethje in September.
Sonnen, a former UFC light heavyweight title contender, said that as one of the sport’s good guys ‘Cowboy’ fully deserved a ‘red panty night’ – and the ensuing payday – against McGregor.
Sonnen also accepted that McGregor would go into the 170 lbs contest as the bookies’ favorite – but cautioned that the presumed five-round nature of the fight could pose major problems for the Irishman.
“Conor is likely to go in as the heavy favorite…,” Sonnen said on his Bad Guy Inc YouTube show. “[But] understand one thing. The fight is scheduled for five rounds. If Conor ever had a flaw in his career, and he hasn’t had very many, he’s been open to admit it, he gets tired.
YouTube Chael Sonnen
“To come off that layoff that he’s had… and yes he’ll be looking for that finish, he’ll be looking for that left hand, he’ll be looking to get Cowboy out of there, I understand that.
“But he did the same thing with Nate Diaz, and when he found out that Nate could take a punch, all of a sudden you’re in the later rounds, and all of a sudden you’re out of energy.
“I do feel in many ways the miscalculation here is to walk back into a five-round fight,” Sonnen said.
Whether or not Sonnen’s concerns are founded, we’ll find out in Las Vegas on January 18.
