Chael Sonnen has once again shared his thoughts on this weekend's huge fight between Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor, which he believes might not go ahead.
Sonnen has been very vocal (as usual) in the run up to this fight, and his comments that both McGregor and Aldo are scared of losing got plenty of coverage.
Having watched the press conference ahead of the matchup, he repeated his comments that both men are sure they're going to lose, and that Jose Aldo doesn't clearly doesn't want the fight.
As a former fighter himself, Sonnen claims that he knows what's going on in the heads of both men and said "I'm not positive Jose Aldo is going to make weight for this fight. If he could find a way out of this fight right now he'd take it, the problem is he's here and he's healthy.
"His last chance to get out of this, or at least not have his title on the line [...] is not to make weight. Until I see him on that scale, I'm not going to buy it.
"He's clearly scared of Conor, he already pulled out of this fight once before [but] Conor is now laying the groundwork for his loss. He's doing interviews talking about how 'all great champions suffer defeat' [...] he's feathering this nest for his fall".
Sonnen added that "Conor is scared that he's going to lose to Jose Aldo and believes that he is. Jose Aldo is scared of Conor and believes he's going to lose. Both these guys are preparing for that".
He argues that Aldo's attitude to the press surrounding the fight is indicative of the fact that he doesn't want to partake in it: "When you have an athlete that does everything he can to make sure don't tune in [...] that's not a great sign. If you were going to whip my ass, you're going to want some people to watch".
He also adds that McGregor does want people to tune in, but that "he wants them to tune into his next fight when he's no longer the champion too, and he's starting to set that fight up".
He stated that he's not happy that it seems to be the Conor McGregor show, and it shouldn't have to be that way, as Aldo isn't putting in a shift when it comes to the promotional side of things.
Image: David Becker / AP/Press Association Images
According to Sonnen, amongst other things, that lead to McGregor's more subdued and focused performance at the press conference: "you're looking at a tired athlete [...] that's been in five different timezones, that isn't getting the kind of rest that he wants".
"He's also got to make weight, and that's a big battle in itself. Conor is going to be a little bit tired, and he's probably a little bit annoyed at how much work he's had to do, he should not have had to do this kind of work when they have the same contract. When the guys have the same contract for the same points on the back end, you both have a job to do, and Conor has had to go out and work double duty, he should be a little annoyed".
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