Damn…Conor McGregor drops the bombshell on folks saying he won’t fight in the UFC again…
It’s easy to forget, given the current madness, that Conor McGregor still holds the UFC lightweight belt. Currently embroiled in a boxing rivalry with Floyd Mayweather, ‘The Notorious’ is set to make over $100 million on August 26.
Many fans have speculated about McGregor’s future in MMA, as he’ll be set for retirement come the end of this summer. From a monetary standpoint, he’ll never have to actually work again.
UFC president Dana White recently revealed he was unsure of McGregor’s return to MMA.
Uncertain Future?
Speaking with MMAFighting.com, White says the money McGregor earns on August 26 could well retire him. Then again, nothing is set in stone:
“I had a bunch of guys who worked for us in the UFC and made a bunch of money and they’re gone now. You know? You just don’t know, if he’s going to come in and make this kind of money, he might never fight again,” White said.
“That’s part of the deal, you know?” White said. “This kid has done a lot for the sport, a lot for the company and this is the fight that he wanted, so we’re going to give it to him. And if this is the end of his career, then it is what it is.“
But, and it’s a big but, McGregor recently told BT Sports that he is keen to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov in a wicked Russian showdown:
Khabib in Russian Clash
“That’s certainly an option that I’m exploring. That would be a spectacle. It’d be like something out of Rocky. I suppose this whole story is like a Rocky story, right? So why not face a man in his home country, and a crazy place like Russia. It’s certainly something I’d like to do. There’s a couple of options on the table so let’s see what unfolds.”
“I believe so. I believe I’ll come out of this fight without a scratch. [Take] a couple weeks to refresh my jiu-jitsu and my wrestling – not that I’ve stopped training that either, I’ve still kept up on that, just less – and then we’ll see what happens.”
Dana White also appeared to confirm these plans, as he spoke to journalists at the UFC headquarters:
Dana White’s Unicorn
“You know what Conor told me? He said, ‘I want Khabib in Russia,’” White told MMAjunkie on Wednesday at UFC headquarters. “Isn’t he (expletive) awesome? He’s like, ‘I want Khabib, in Russia.’ He’s awesome. Conor McGregor is a (expletive) unicorn. There’s nothing like him. He’s working on boxing Floyd Mayweather and then he’s talking about fighting Khabib in Russia right after.”
“Those are the kind of things that make that kid a (expletive) superstar,” White said. “I’ve got guys telling me, ‘I don’t want to (expletive) – I don’t want to fight this guy, and I don’t want to do this.’ (Conor says), ‘I want Floyd Mayweather then I want (expletive) Khabib in Russia.’ How do you not love him? How do you not love Conor McGregor? Amazing.”
