Last month, Conor McGregor‘s appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon raised eyebrows. Many viewers blasted the show as well as the late night host for bringing on the UFC star despite his past controversies. The rebuke on the internet was all to evident. However, former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen believes the talk show appearance also raises questions about McGregor’s commitment to his training camp.

According to ‘The Bad Guy,’ McGregor leaving his training camp in Ireland to appear on a late-night show in the United States has made him skeptical about how seriously the former two-division champion is preparing for his upcoming fight with Max Holloway on July 11.

“He’s returning to a weight class outside of his prime, which historically has never worked out successfully, even in the boxing world,” Sonnen said on UFC’s Paramount+ show. “Ultimately, he signed up to do five rounds, which, on the best of days, when he could train and when he had no injuries, and he could push through and do whatever he wanted, was hard for him to do. So, it’s kind of insurmountable.

“That’s before we start talking about where is he training? Why am I hearing that his training camp is in Ireland, but I see him on the Tonight Show, which was filmed outside of California two days ago? I’m skeptical of the whole thing.”

While Conor McGregor promoting his fight on one of the most popular late-night shows in America doesn’t automatically signal that he’s slacking off, yet, there might be some reason for Chael Sonnen‘s concern. ‘The Notorious’ has a rocky track record after making late-night television appearances before his big fights.

In 2015, Conor McGregor appeared on the Conan O’Brien show, where he took shots at Jose Aldo, Chad Mendes, and even Floyd Mayweather ahead of UFC 189. Following the interview, he defeated Mendes at UFC 189 to win the interim championship. After that, the former UFC champ also appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, before UFC 194, and went on to knock out Jose Aldo in 13 seconds. 

However, the Irishman appeared again on the Conan O’Brien show in 2016 before his UFC 196 clash against Nate Diaz and later returned to the same show ahead of UFC 229 (through video chat) where he famously fought Khabib Nurmagomedov, with both those outings ending in defeat.

That said, although Sonnen isn’t entirely convinced about McGregor’s motivation to train ahead of the fight, he is confident that the former two-division UFC champion will make the walk against Max Holloway at UFC 329.

“I’m confident that he’s going through with this,” Sonnen added. “I’m confident that he would make the walk. But there’s parts of me inspired by a guy willing to do that.”

Besides the former title challenger, former BMF champion Jorge Masvidal also expressed doubts about Conor McGregor’s preparation during the UFC Paramount+ show alongside Dustin Poirier and Chris Weidman. Despite this, ‘The Notorious’ remains committed to proving he’s back and more focused than ever.

Conor McGregor releases new training footage, unveiling his customized shorts

Recently, Conor McGregor’s former training partner and jiu-jitsu coach, Dillon Danis, revealed that the Irishman is fully dedicated to facing Max Holloway. Providing more details, Danis even claimed that McGregor is practically living at the gym. Following those remarks, the former UFC champion shared a glimpse of his own training while wearing his new customized shorts.

“Working hard!” McGregor wrote in the caption while uploading several training photos to the platform.

In the pictures, ‘The Notorious’ can be seen training with headgear while wearing his custom Venum shorts, designed in green with dollar bills printed across them. While it look like the first time McGregor has been seen wearing the shorts, but Venum actually launched the design last year. Even so, the images paint the picture of the UFC star fully locked in for his long-awaited return.

With Conor McGregor facing multiple doubts ahead of his comeback, the criticism could very well serve as extra motivation to prove everyone wrong. However, he’ll be stepping into the Octagon against an active Max Holloway after a five-year hiatus, making that task anything but easy.