Conor McGregor, for most of his UFC career, has been the money fight.
But with a second loss to Dustin Poirier in the UFC 264 pay-per-view (PPV) main event this Sat. night (July 10) in Las Vegas, “Notorious” will become just another loudmouth who used to be “the man.”
Unless he retires from competition.
“If he loses, I think there’s a potential that he might retire,” former UFC champ Michael Bisping said on his official podcast (transcribed by Rory Robinson). “I really do. If he’s not going to be the champ, and that is a long way off, what is he going to do? He’ll always be the main event but is he just doing to do random fights against people that don’t mean anything? He’s made his money. He always said that he was going to get rich and get out. He’s certainly got rich. The last part is to get out. If he can’t beat Poirier and can’t fight for the belt anytime soon, then what?”
McGregor (22-5), who turns 33 in just a few days, has only competed four times since smashing Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in New York. In addition to his boxing loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr., “Notorious” has registered MMA defeats to Khabib Nurmagomedov and the aforementioned Poirier.
“I don’t think about anything with Conor until after Saturday,” UFC President Dana White told MMA Junkie. “Because you never know where this kid’s head is and what he’s thinking… He’s extremely wealthy. The question is, ‘How much more of this does he want?’ How hungry is he? We’ll find out on Saturday night. Win, lose, or draw, we’ll find out probably a couple weeks after that what he wants to do next.”
A victory over Poirier is likely to propel McGregor into a lightweight title fight opposite Charles Oliveira later this year, and it’s not unreasonable to think the retirement question will once again rear its ugly head if “Notorious” is able to capture the crown for the second time in this division.
That all depends on how things transpire this weekend in “Sin City.”
For much more on UFC 264: “Poirier vs. McGregor 3” be sure to check out our official UFC 264 news archive by clicking here. For the complete UFC 264 fight card and PPV lineup spread across Fight Pass, ESPN+, and ESPN click here.