Conor McGregor: I Won’t Defend Title Unless I’m Part UFC Owner

Conor McGregor’s hefty demands were made clear last night. Will the UFC bend this far to bring back their most popular MMA fighter?

Keeping the MMA world on hold again, Conor McGregor’s UFC return is far from a sure thing. Having last fought at UFC 205, winning the lightweight title, McGregor then took some time off for the birth of his child.

Similar to the aftermath of his victory for the featherweight title, the Irishman has gone a year between fighting in his title division. During 2016, welterweight fights with Nate Diaz were the hold-up.

This year it was the ‘super-fight’ with Floyd Mayweather that put the lightweight division on ice. Now, with nothing but rumors and speculation to rely on, McGregor’s next opponent is likely to be Tony Ferguson.

With ‘El Cucuy’ holding the interim belt, a unification bout is undoubtedly called for. As we all know by now, it’s not that simple with ‘The Notorious.’

McGregor’s New Demands

Before last night, it was the talk of another money fight with Diaz that could potentially see off Ferguson. Now, after the latest interview with McGregor, it’s money itself that could see McGregor never step in the octagon again.

Similarly to after the Alvarez fight, McGregor says he will not fight for the UFC again unless he is given a ‘promoter’s stake’ in the $4 billion company:

Quotes thanks to MMAFighting.com:

“We’ll see,” McGregor said. “We’re in the process of negotiations, there’s a couple of opponents across different sports now in play, there’s the boxing game also.”

“We’re in the contract negotiation stage,” McGregor said. “It’s got to, they’ve got to entice me now because, I came from a billion-dollar fight. I want equity, I want pay-per-view. I want to be a true partner. You have to entice me now. I want to be a partner. I want to be a promoter and I want to be a fighter for me to continue.”

That was last night during McGregor’s Dublin premiere of the ‘Notorious Film’ about his life. MMA Junkie reporter Chamatkar Sandhu also confirmed the demands:

McGregor says now that he's also a promoter he's not stepping into the Octagon again unless he has a promoters stake.

— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) November 1, 2017

Does This Sound Familiar?

Here’s McGregor demanding equity in the company after smashing Eddie Alvarez in New York:

“If you want to come at me, if you want me to stick around and help service that debt and continue to push the company, bring me on board, for real,” McGregor said. “I need to be set for life for this. If you want me to be truly on on board, then I need to be all-in on this proper, as an owner, and have an equity stake in the company. That’s what I’m looking for.”

“They’ve got to come talk to me now,” McGregor said. “Both belts. Money. I want the ownership now. If we’re going to keep doing this, let’s talk, but I want an equal share. I want what I’ve deserved, what I’ve earned.”