Chael Sonnen claims Conor McGregor ‘beat up’ Floyd Mayweather

Former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen has sensationally claimed that Conor McGregor ‘beat up’ Floyd Mayweather during their infamous clash in 2017.

McGregor’s former foe Nate Diaz is set to take on Khamzat Chimaev next month and has opened up as a heavy underdog for the contest.

However, Sonnen has hinted that fights don’t always go the way that bookmakers predict, and has pointed out that McGregor also had the odds stacked against him when he faced Mayweather, but believes the Irishman got the better of his opponent throughout the fight, despite receiving very little recognition from the judges.

Despite McGregor being stopped, Chael Sonnen believes the Irishman ‘beat up’ Mayweather

’12-to-1 underdog. That line is not going to hold, I’m telling you right now, but [Diaz] is a 12-to-1 underdog,’ Sonnen said in one of his Beyond the Fight episodes on YouTube.

‘Diaz was an 8-1 underdog. Now 11-to-1 is what Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather was. 

It closed to 8.5, but Conor was an 11-to-1 dog, went out, and beat up a guy for 30 minutes. [Mayweather] lost four of nine completed rounds. He got his a** kicked regardless of what the crooks in the Nevada State Athletic Commission told you that night.’

In their lucrative Las Vegas bout five years ago, McGregor made a bright start as he landed an uppercut in the opening round, while Mayweather hardly threw a punch early on.

McGregor did make a good start against Mayweather, and landed some punches early on

However, Mayweather’s class soon shone through as he went on to stop McGregor

However, the American icon gradually warmed to his task and began to pick McGregor apart, before forcing a stoppage in the tenth round.

At the time of the stoppage, the judges had Mayweather comfortably in front 89-81, 89-82 and 87-83 on the scorecards.

However, Sonnen clearly disagrees with their verdicts, and saw the fight very differently to the officials at ringside.

McGregor has not been seen inside the squared circle since losing to Mayweather, and he has been away from the Octagon for over a year after fracturing his leg in his third UFC fight against Dustin Poirier last July. 

A rematch with Mayweather has been mooted recently, with reports last month indicating that the pair were close to reaching an agreement, although a deal has not been signed yet.