Sonnen: McGregor owner-meeting demand is boyfriend-girlfriend talk
Conor McGregor won the UFC lightweight belt, and had a couple of announcements. He wasn’t going to fight until after May,…
Conor McGregor won the UFC lightweight belt, and had a couple of announcements. He wasn’t going to fight until after May, when he and longtime partner Dee Devlin are expecting their first child. And he wanted a meeting with the new UFC ownership; he wasn’t fighting until he got equity.
McGregor expanded on the remarks recently, saying the new owners should jet to Ireland to sit down and have the discussion. On the latest You’re Welcome, Chael Sonnen discussed the issue.
Man, pick up a phone and send a text message,” said Sonnen, as transcribed by Anton Tabuena for BE. “At some point, there’s only 24-hours in a day, no matter who you are. Dana and Ari Emanuel are in Russia right now, meeting with leaders of the Kremlin. They are running business and moving this thing forward. Is everything supposed to stop so they can talk to a fighter?
At some point, you sit there and hash out a contract, but when a contract is done, that’s it! It has got an expiration date, typically 15-18 months. We don’t need to talk again! I can’t be sitting around just talking to my talent who I have locked up in my contract.
People say they ‘well I want to talk’, or ‘I want a piece’, well you’ve got a contract! That’s the game. Be on top! Have leverage when that contract is up.
I end up sounding like I’m corporate, and I’m against the boys. But there is a push and a pull here. There is a time and a place. Every time you gain a little momentum, you don’t get to just go in and redo a contract that you signed and gave your word.
Coker can’t sit down and talk with everyone. He just can’t. He’s got to have Rich Chou and his team to do this. Same thing goes with Dana White. You want to talk with Dana? Man, there’s not enough hours in a day. Send him a text message, he will get back to you.
Guys are bitching because they can’t get a conversation? C’mon man! That’s boyfriend-girlfriend talk right there. ‘I’m not getting enough attention.’ That’s boyfriend-girlfriend talk. This is business.