Chael Sonnen taunts Charles Oliveira's demands for potential Conor McGregor fight, says they'll get "trash can" treatment
Charles Oliveira, coming off a loss to Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300, expressed interest in being the backup fighter for the upcoming Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler bout. While Oliveira holds a victory over Chandler from their UFC 262 title fight, his desire to step in as a replacement comes with a caveat.
Oliveira reportedly wants a guarantee to renegotiate his contract for a higher payout if he's called upon to fight. Appearing on a recent episode of ‘Good Guy/Bad Guy’ with Daniel Cormier, Sonnen ridiculed Oliveira's demands. He questioned the legitimacy of Oliveira's request and claimed it to be an outlandish demand with no chance of being met.
He said:
"He has a list of demands, Demands to be the backup fighter…so I’d like to ask, do you think the UFC wants those demands? Or will you compare it to me riding down and throwing a bottle into the ocean with a tag that says ‘NASA’, to let NASA know my demand to be the first human on Jupiter? Which demand is going to be thrown in the trash can first?"
Sonnen further criticized Oliveira's conditional acceptance, suggesting it weakens his position. He also pointed out that neither McGregor nor Chandler has a history of pulling out of fights during their time in the UFC, thus diminishing Oliveira's chances of getting a last-minute opportunity.
“He’s not joking about this – ‘I’ll fight on that date, if’…from a business standpoint, he needs to take a good look at that, and [neither Chandler nor McGregor] are pulling out of that fight…you damn sure aren’t fighting!”
Check out Chael Sonnen's comments on Charles Oliveira below (26:04):
What has Charles Oliveira said about being the backup fighter in Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler?
Charles Oliveira is looking for an opportunity after his recent loss. The former lightweight champ has expressed interest in being the backup fighter for the highly anticipated Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler fight at UFC 303.
While Oliveira sees being a backup as beneficial - potentially earning fight night pay without the risk of injury - his offer comes with a condition. Oliveira wants a guaranteed renegotiation of his contract for a higher payout if he ends up facing McGregor.
This stipulation seems to be the source of some confusion, as Oliveira clarified:
“I offered myself to be the alternate for that fight, and obviously, I’m down for that. I’d make some money if I don’t fight, and if I do fight, then awesome. The only condition is if I were to fight McGregor, then I’d have to re-negotiate that (contract) before. Once I said that, everyone started talking about me and moving to 170, but that’s not exactly what it is.”[H/t: MMA Junkie]
Check out Charles Oliveira's address the matter in the video below: