Boxing coach Owen Roddy talks about Conor McGregor’s absence and sheds some light on the Irishman’s UFC return.
It has been a year and five months since Conor McGregor stepped inside the UFC Octagon. And due to his most recent misconduct at UFC 223 wherein he is facing multiple charges, the timetable for the return of “The Notorious” remains indefinite.
In a recent exclusive interview with Express Sport, boxing coach Owen Roddy was not able to give a rough estimate on McGregor’s return. He did promise, however, that the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion is eager about making an MMA comeback.
“Just to have him back in the cage, I think that’s more important than anything else. He’s training, he’s looking good,” Roddy said.
“We can’t really talk about when he wants to return. But he’s adamant he’s getting back.”
Roddy believes the fans, the UFC, and the entire MMA world, in general, has been longing to see his fighter back in action, simply because of everything that comes with a McGregor fight.
“For me, the sooner (he’s back) the better. The UFC is really missing Conor, I believe,” Roddy said. “And I think everybody is missing the whole extravaganza of a Conor McGregor fight. There’s nothing like it in the world.”
“And I think the people in the world want to see it again. The sooner the better.
As for McGregor’s next fight, what is most talked about right now is a matchup against Khabib Nurmagomedov, either in Moscow or Dublin. But for Roddy, it can be against anyone, as long as he would draw massive numbers.
”There’s no indication of who it will be, but it doesn’t really matter, to be honest,” Roddy said. “I’ve said this before: The draw is Conor. The opponent is just somebody there to go in against him.”
“It’s whatever fight makes sense,” he added. “The biggest draw will get the chance to fight Conor.”
But before anything else, McGregor would first have to attend a June 14th court date to address his charges of three counts of assault and one count of criminal mischief from the entire UFC 223 media ruckus that left both Ray Borg and Michael Chiesa injured and pulled from their respective fights.