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MMA legend Chael Sonnen has suggested that Conor McGregor potentially losing to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 wouldn’t be the end of The Notorious One's star power. Sonnen expounded that certain fighters, like McGregor, are masters at the art of attracting and retaining the fans’ attention despite losing multiple fights.
Conor McGregor has suffered four losses in his MMA career and one in his boxing career thus far, but he’s still regarded as one of the greatest fighters of all time.
On an edition of Beyond The Fight, Chael Sonnen weighed in on Conor McGregor possibly losing at UFC 257.
“I didn’t have any idea that Conor is three and three in his last six (fights). And frankly, I don’t care. I like his attitude. He’s got more of a commodity than just his punches and kicks. He also brings in the entertainment aspect. There’s something special going on. I like the fact that he did it in two different sports (MMA and boxing). I love the fact that he did it over three different weight classes and has now settled into what I believe to be his best weight class.” Sonnen said.
“I just think that there’s more to the story. I think there’s more to the journey. And if fighters can get fans to come along the journey, that’s when the fighter has longevity. If the fighter gets his feelings hurt because he lost and the fans turned on him, or the fighter gets nice and high on life because he won in the fight and the fans said something good – That’s normal. That’s natural. I don’t begrudge anybody, other than the fighter for not understanding that’s not the point. It never was. The point is to get as many people (as possible) to come along the journey. That’s going to up and it’s going to go down. But it’s going to go a long time if you do it right.” Sonnen said. (*H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)
Fans and experts have often emphasized that Conor McGregor’s ability to deal with defeat and return triumphantly, is one of the things that make him great.
Chael Sonnen believes that a loss at UFC 257 would affect Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier differently
The MMA world is divided in its opinion as to who would emerge victorious in the Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier matchup at UFC 257.
On that note, Chael Sonnen opined that The Diamond losing at UFC 257 and then losing a couple of other fights would adversely affect him. Sonnen added that, in that case, we would probably not be talking about Poirier one year from now.
On the contrary, Sonnen noted that the entertainment value that Conor McGregor brings to the table makes him special. He said that we will still be talking about McGregor regardless of whether or not he loses at UFC 257.
