Conor McGregor tipped to be ‘very problematic’ for Charles Oliveira in potential UFC title fight

Lightweight champion Oliveira is eyeing a defence against the former title holder

Conor McGregor would be a “very problematic” challenger for UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, according to Chael Sonnen.

Oliveira knocked out Michael Chandler last May to claim the belt vacated by Khabib Nurmagomedov, before submitting Dustin Poirier to retain the gold in December.

McGregor, meanwhile, lost twice to Poirier last year – knocked out by the American in January before suffering a broken leg in the pair’s July bout.

McGregor has just one win in the last five years but none at lightweight. His last victory at 155lbs came in November 2016 when he knocked out Eddie Alvarez to win the title and become the UFC’s first ever dual-weight champion.

Despite McGregor’s patchy record in recent years – and Justin Gaethje’s status as No1 contender – the Irishman is Oliveira’s preferred opponent next time out.

And former UFC middleweight contender Sonnen said on his YouTube channel: “If there’s anybody that Conor is likely to beat to become the world champion, it is the sitting champion right now.

“Charles Oliveira-Conor McGregor is a fascinating match-up. It is very problematic for Oliveira. Conor McGregor is as good of a striker as this sport has ever seen. Oliveira is a very dynamic striker who showed some real wrestling prowess in a couple of contests but in other contests didn’t.

“Conor can handle himself on the ground. Conor can take care of himself on the feet. The in between has been a problem with very high-level guys. So now you start to have a question of: Is Oliveira a really high-level guy? Is he that high enough?

“I don’t have the answers to these questions. I’m just sharing for you, however this goes, the fans are going to get something very special.”

Oliveira holds the records for most finishes (18) and most submission wins (15) in UFC history.

Of the Brazilian’s 32 wins in professional mixed martial arts, a remarkable 29 have come via finishes.