Chael Sonnen accepts 'Mystic Mac's' irreplaceability while discussing potential fixes for UFC 303: "There's only one Conor McGregor"
MMA legend and renowned analyst Chael Sonnen recently on the potential shake-up of the much-anticipated Conor McGregor vs Michael Chandler fight card at UFC 303 on June 29. Mystery shrouded the event's headliner when rumors of a fight cancelation surfaced in light of the press conference getting scrapped at the last minute.
It's been over a week since the rumors started going around social media and McGregor, Chandler, and the UFC have not given a solid and official word regarding the fight. Not even an acknowledgment of the rumors.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Sonnen gave his thoughts on how much of a blow it will be if ever the UFC 303 main event gets scrapped, saying:
"Red Panty Night is real. There's only one Conor McGregor. And I would assume that with the loss of matches, there's going to be a dimming of that light... The delaying of the match, the refusal to enter the USADA pool, missing [UFC] 300. I can go on and on. I would have assumed wrong that there was going to be a dimming of the light, Ariel. He's [McGregor] beaten his own records. The top ten gates in UFC history... he has all ten. So I figured he could come in and still do something meaningful... It's remarkable."
Sonnen continued with:
"So when you asked me what the blow is if [he's] something replaceable, no. No. There is only one Conor McGregor."
Watch the full statement here, as posted by MMA Fighting on X:
Chael Sonnen offers the best possible match if McGregor-Chandler bout ever gets canceled
Speaking further on the matter, Sonnen offered some kind of solution - a replacement bout - to keep fans interest in UFC 303 if Conor McGregor gets removed from the card, telling Ariel Helwani:
"And if you're to replace him and keep the card as intact as you could, which simply means you keep Chandler in the main event. The only one that you could do close would be Max Holloway, 155 [pounds], and the BMF belt. But because that's the only one that you could do, they might just pull [Michael] Chandler completely."
Sonnen suggested Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway as well as Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya, but ultimately ended his statement with:
“There are certain things that you could do to ease the blow, but make no mistake, there is only one Conor McGregor.”