Conor McGregor has been warned not to go it alone in the promotion game by Chael Sonnen as the 32-year-old risks 'falling on his face'.
McGregor has long been the UFC's cash cow but a return to fight under their banner is starting to appear unlikely after a recent public war of words between 'The Notorious' and UFC boss Dana White.
McGregor intends to take on his old UFC rival Dustin Poirier in a charity match in Dublin on December 12, with his company McGregor Sports and Entertainment listed as a promoter.
But Sonnen - speaking to MMA Fighting - warned: “I wish Conor the best, but if I could give Conor any advice, and I’ve given him plenty over the years – do not go into the promoting game.
“You’re going to fall on your face, and you don’t know what you’re doing.
“I’m not kicking Conor right now. I really don’t care what he does one way or the other. I’ve watched these guys go broke all the time. The inmates cannot run the asylum.
"There’s a few people alive that know how to promote. Everybody else is going to lose money. Conor is going to lose money.”
UFC president White claimed he was planning to relaunch his reality show The Ultimate Fighter with McGregor and Nurmagomedov as opposing captains - culminating in a fight between the pair next year.
But when McGregor took to social media to leak his private messages with White, Nurmagomedov had a change of heart.
"[Khabib] was gonna do it until Conor did all this s***," White told Barstool Sports. "That’s what I was saying. I felt like I was in a good place and we were going to get that done.
"We were going to do The Ultimate Fighter on ESPN and f***ing do the rematch but Conor blew that.
"Yeah, Khabib said f*** him; that was it."
Despite the tumultuous relationship between McGregor and UFC chiefs of late, it has been reported that they are keen to hold the Poirier-McGregor clash themselves and have offered the two fighters a January date.
