Chael Sonnen was keen on Conor McGregor facing Terence Crawford in his next fight but Ariel Helwani wasn’t so keen
Conor McGregor defeating Donald Cerrone in his return fight has seen several opponents talked up as his next target in the Octagon.
Jorge Masvidal, Nate Diaz and Khabib Nurmagomedov are three UFC stars that have been named with McGregor openly stating he is ready for another fight.
However, a different kind of clash could be on the cards. WBO Welterweight champion Terence Crawford could be the next fight for McGregor as Bob Arum also spoke about this clash happening.
Opinions are split regarding this boxing/MMA fight though. McGregor had faced Floyd Mayweather Jr in a boxing match and lost that fight, and Ariel Helwani wasn’t too keen on watching this again:
“I like the idea of the two part series if you will. I like the idea of the MMA fight followed by the boxing fight.”
However, Helwani questioned Arum wanting to set this fight as he had laughed at the Mayweather-McGregor fight a while back.
“Conor McGregor would be fighting a boxing great and now he is 0-1 as a boxer, and you are gonna offer him, arguably, your best fighter, it seems a little disingenuous, it seems a little hypocritical.”
Helwani went on to say that Arum pushing for this fight was funny and made his intentions clear about the clash:
“I have no interest in this fight, because I want to see Conor compete at what he is best at, which is MMA. And I want to see Terence Crawford compete in what he is best at, and that is boxing,”
Sonnen open to possible fight
Former UFC star Chael Sonnen was the partner in the discussion with Helwani and sang a different tune.
Sonnen was open to the idea of the fight and claimed he was interested in the fight, and wanted to praise Arum for suggesting the two-fight deal.
“Arum actually saying he will do it and come to the UFC first, I am interested”, said Sonnen about the fight.
The former star also highlighted how when such fights are put in place the boxing match takes place first and then the MMA one is forgotten about.
McGregor’s boxing fight against Mayweather didn’t go as the Irishman would have pleased. However, that was a complete boxing match, unlike what is being proposed with Crawford.
More UFC news
-
Kevin Lee claims Conor McGregor cannot celebrate win over Cerrone
-
Jorge Masvidal retweets post that calls for him to smash Conor McGregor
It will be interesting to see if this fight is put on the table as Helwani and Sonnen further said that Arum and UFC president Dana White don’t like each other.
Follow our dedicated UFC page for instant UFC news and updates
