Conor McGregor is the UFC’s biggest star but he is needed less than ever right now. The ESPN deal means that the UFC doesn’t need to rely on single big stars so much. That’s why they’re willing to play hardball with Jon Jones and Jorge Masvidal over contracts. In short, it’s their way or the high way.
However, it will be interesting to see how long this lasts. When crowds come back then McGregor might return too because he sells tickets like nobody else. They don’t want him to fight without a gate revenue at stake. However, McGregor isn’t exactly somebody you can just tell what to do.
Dana White insists that he doesn’t care what McGregor thinks or does. In sum, he refuses for fighters to draw him into protracted negotiations. If you believe him- which you shouldn’t – then McGregor won’t be fighting anytime soon. Check out his statement below.
Retired
In sum, White says that he won’t chase McGregor. He thinks that McGregor doesn’t belong in the conversation because he is retired. However, we all know that isn’t true. The Notorious is still in the USADA testing pool so obviously he’s only posturing. Anyway, White told ESPN:
“Conor McGregor is retired. I don’t chase guys that don’t want to fight. I don’t chase guys. We offer guys three fights a year. You get three fights a year, if you don’t want to fight, I’ve got a roster full of people who want to fight.”
However, does he have a roster full of people that fans want to watch fight? That’s the bigger question. There are only so many athletes you can lose before questions have to be asked.
Cejudo retired they took him out of the rankings very quickly let’s do it with Connor as well! 🤔🤔🤔
— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) June 22, 2020
Rankings
Furthermore, Gilbert Burns says the UFC should remove McGregor from the official lightweight rankings. He made this comment after Henry Cejudo disappeared from the bantamweight list. In sum, the fact that he’s still on it means that you can expect him to come back soon.
Meanwhile, Burns will fight Tyron Woodley for the welterweight title. Maybe the former lightweight is looking to stoke the embers of a rivalry with the Irishman. We all love to dream but this might be too big for the Brazilian.
No Chance
In his own words, McGregor says the UFC just wasn’t willing to play ball. He says he was frustrated by their inability to see reason. In short, he lost his desire to fight. If they don’t want to do things his way, that’s fine. He told ESPN:
“I laid out a plan and a method that was the right move, the right methods to go with. And they always want to balk at that and not make it happen or just drag it on. Whatever I say, they want to go against it to show some kind of power. They should have just done the fight — me and Justin for the interim title — and just kept the ball rolling.”
Realistically, we’ll see him fight the winner of Khabib v Gaethje, won’t we?
