UFC 246 Fighter Flashback: Conor McGregor explains why he’s no Chael Sonnen

UFC 246 Fighter Flashback: Conor McGregor explains why he’s no Chael Sonnen

Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone will kick off the 2020 UFC pay-per-view schedule Jan. 18 when they headline UFC 246 in Las Vegas. The fight serves as McGregor’s highly anticipated return to the octagon after 14 months, while Cerrone receives the biggest opportunity of his nearly 14-year career. As part of an occasional series ahead of the matchup, let’s flash back to a UFC 189 pre-fight scrum, where McGregor refused to adhere to comparisons to any other fighters.

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There’s only one Conor McGregor. Most everyone can agree on that.

Throughout his career, the brash Irishman has been put in the same light as many others over combat sports history. He’s never embraced any of those comparisons, though, and always remained firm in his stance that he’s his own entity.

He never made his belief more clear than ahead of his scheduled UFC 189 title fight with Jose Aldo (which eventually turned into an interim title bout vs. Chad Mendes after Aldo suffered an injury on short notice).

A Brazilian reporter asked McGregor if he’s “the new Chael Sonnen,” and he adamantly shut down that statement.

“Every contest they compare me to somebody new,” McGregor told reporters in 2015. “I’ve been compared to Chael on many, many occasions. The Brazilians compare me to Chael. The Americans these days are trying to compare me to Muhammad Ali, I’ve been also compared to Nick Diaz, I’ve been compared to Anderson Silva. I’ve been compared to everybody in the fight game. But, I am just me.

“This is just human nature. People look to relate you to somebody they know, that they are familiar with. It’s just human nature. People do that. But time will tell that I am not any of them. I am me. The next young kid that’s on his way up, he will be compared to me. This is human nature.”

Also see:

• UFC 246 Fighter Flashback: Donald Cerrone proves to be one badass dad
• UFC 246 Fighter Flashback: Conor McGregor introduces ‘red panty night’ into MMA lexicon
• UFC 246 Fighter Flashback: Conor McGregor’s bold message after first Cage Warriors win
• UFC 246 Fighter Flashback: Conor McGregor arrives in Brazil, rips up Jose Aldo poster in Rio bar
• UFC 246 Fighter Flashback: Donald Cerrone on his ‘scariest, most intense, fun’ pre-fight nerves