Following the release of the Netflix documentary around the WWE, UFC veteran Chael Sonnen has come to the defense of Vince McMahon, comparing him to none other than UFC superstar Conor McGregor. With the former WWE boss facing severe criticism over his s*xual assaulr and trafficking allegations among others.
But Sonnen sees things differently. In his eyes, McMahon and McGregor are master entertainers, playing larger-than-life characters that fans are too caught up in to realize they’re just part of the show.
According to Sonnen, it’s not about being terrible people, it’s about being great at what they do—captivating audiences. The ‘Bad Guy’ in his latest YouTube video, defended the 79-year-old billionaire for ‘playing a character perfectly‘.
“It’s a very interesting story that no one can seem to tell accurately and behind the guise as I am watching this whole thing, you have one of the great characters in Mr. McMahon. Who is claiming to be just that, a character. It reminds me of a time when a broken, fallen, defeated Conor McGregor talked about a guys wife and talked about DMs and you decided he was a terrible person but there was another option.”
Conor McGregor with a broken ankle/leg, says it’s not over. And that Dustin’s wife is in his DMs pic.twitter.com/mzEJmfkZG6
— Jordan Dajani (@JordanDajani) July 11, 2021
Sonnen went on to add that even in his lowest moment after suffering a catastrophic injury mid-fight, McGregor refused to break character and fans were just simply too dumb to realize what he was doing.
Sonnen is of course, referring to McGregor talking trash about his opponent Dustin Poirier’s wife, something the ‘Bad Guy’ himself is all too familiar with.
Regardless, he claims that fans have branded both McGregor and McMahon bad people for being extremely good at what they do.
Interestingly, the Netflix documentary revealed that McMahon also had a chance to buy the UFC early on but passed up on it, a decision him and his family regret to this day.
Shane McMahon’s UFC idea
Back in the early 2000s, when the UFC was on the verge of collapse, Vinnie Mac’s son, Shane McMahon saw a golden opportunity. The UFC was struggling to find a buyer, and the prodigal son thought it would be a perfect fit for the McMahon empire. He pitched the idea to his dad, Vince, confident that WWE’s production, live events, and merchandising teams could turn the UFC into a massive success.
But the then WWE boss wasn’t convinced. He believed that, unlike WWE, UFC fighters had limited careers, and once they were injured or beaten, he would not be able to sell them. WWE, on the other hand, could create characters that last forever.
Essentially, UFC was a sport promotion and Mr. McMahon was in the sports entertainment business.
Regardless, in 2001, Zuffa bought the UFC for $2 million, and 15 years later, it sold for a whopping $4 billion. Shane still believes it could have been a game-changing investment, but hindsight is 20/20, right?
