The Bookies Believe Conor McGregor Will Appear at WrestleMania in April…
Speculation is rife about the future of Conor McGregor after bookmakers slashed odds on the UFC lightweight champion making an appearance at their upcoming WrestleMania event. The Irish champion is been on hiatus since last August when he fought Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match in Las Vegas.
McGregor lost that match – his one and only in 2016 – but he made a cool $100 million profit from it. Now he’s the highest earning active athlete in the world. Not bad for an apprentice plumber from Dublin. He hasn’t fought in a UFC octagon since November 2016, when he took on Eddie Alvarez for his lightweight belt.
The Irishman is one of the most dramatic sporting successes of all time. His rise brought with it a passionate fanfare that has never been seen before in the history of MMA. He is the only UFC fighter to hold two belts at the same time. However, after UFC 223 in April, he will have been stripped of both. The question, of course, is what next for Conor McGregor?
Odds Slashed
Bookmakers across the United States have slashed odds on McGregor appearing at WrestleMania 34. They’ve dropped as low as 7/4, which makes it seem pretty likely. As a spokesperson for OddsChecker said:
“One of the more vocal celebrities rumoured to be in attendance is the Notorious Conor McGregor – and if bookies are correct – he could well be appearing on the Grandest Stage of Them All.”
Needless to say, the UFC chiefs won’t be very happy to see their biggest asset anywhere near a WWE event. They’ve already lost Ronda Rousey to the entertainment industry, and with so much doubt over McGregor’s future, the thoughts of Vince McMahon chatting to the Irishman might not go down well.
Makes Sense
However, the bookmakers are right. It does make sense. McGregor is highly likely to be Stateside anyway, because his training partner Artem Lobov is fighting on the UFC 223 card on April 7th. ‘The Notorious’ is known to be extremely loyal to his teammates so it would be more of a surprise if he wasn’t in the house.
What makes this more interesting is that Khabib Nurmagamedov is taking on Tony Ferguson for the lightweight title. They’ve been booked for this fight four times already, but it’s finally happening. The winner will take McGregor’s belt because the Irishman is being stripped for inactivity.
It really wouldn’t take much for him to hop on a plane the next day and be in Las Vegas to watch Ronda Rousey make her promotional debut. It would also serve as a subtle warning to the UFC to take his contract negotiations seriously. Of course, many celebrities have made appearances at WWE events throughout the years, including Donald Trump.
See You Soon
It’s highly likely that McGregor will be stepping into the octagon and face off with the winner of that fight. UFC President Dana White has been saying that he expects McGregor to be back in action in the second half of 2018. This would make sense because it would give the winner of Khabib v Ferguson time to recover from injuries.
The only thing that is certain is that with McGregor, nothing is certain. He is one of the most divisive characters in the sport today. What we do know is that it will be incredibly entertaining and the world won’t be able to take their eyes off it.
