Dan Hardy: Conor McGregor fighting Diego Sanchez “would be an execution”

UFC commentator Dan Hardy believes a fight between Conor McGregor and Diego Sanchez would be an “execution” and that the Irish star would gain nothing from it.

McGregor, who remains one of the sport’s best fighters, has recently expressed interest in a fight with the aging Sanchez.

Even after Sanchez was thumped by Jake Matthews on the UFC 253 undercard, that interest didn’t seem to wane.

I am still interested in a fight with you somewhere down the line Diego Sanchez. A true warrior and pioneer of this sport. It would be my honour! Some journalists and promoters and their lack of respect for what the fighters put into this game make me sick.
Things must change!

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) September 27, 2020

“I am still interested in a fight with you somewhere down the line Diego Sanchez,” McGregor wrote on Twitter recently. “A true warrior and pioneer of this sport. It would be my honour! Some journalists and promoters and their lack of respect for what the fighters put into this game make me sick. Things must change!”

Hardy, for his part, doesn’t seem interested in this bout whatsoever, predicting that it would be an “execution” in McGregor’s favor.

“It would be an execution to put Conor in there with Sanchez at this point,” Hardy told them media during a scrum on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi (via MMA Fighting). “And I don’t think Conor would really gain anything from it.”

Hardy isn’t sure why McGregor is interested in a fight with a man who is so clearly in the final phases of his career, but suspects the Irishman may just be looking to keep his name in the headlines.

“Who knows what Conor’s thinking?” Hardy said. “I don’t know. He loves a headline. And if a week goes by without him being in the headlines, he’s gonna do something outlandish to garner some attention. I think that’s what that was.

“There are lots of other good fights out there,” he said. “[Dustin] Poirier being one of them, but I would like to see that in mixed martial arts in the Octagon [rather than a boxing match], to be honest, at 155. It was a weird thing to do [to agree to fight Sanchez], and I think when you’ve got that kind of stature, you’ve got to be really careful who you’re calling out and how you’re doing it because it can really reflect badly on you.”

What do you think of this take from Dan Hardy? Does a fight between Conor McGregor and Diego Sanchez interest you?