The wait is over. Former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor has announced that he’ll once again make the walk to the Octagon come January of 2020. The announcement came during the Irishman’s news conference in Moscow on Thursday.
McGregor announced he’ll fight again on January 18 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. “Notorious” added that he does, in fact, know who he’ll be fighting, but would not reveal the name of his opponent because the UFC would “flip” it if he did.
“Ask the UFC who the opponent is, because I do not give a f— who the opponent is,” McGregor said.
ESPN reports that the two current frontrunners to face McGregor are Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone or Justin Gaethje. Cerrone is currently the favorite. McGregor promised a “fully focused” version of himself 12 weeks out from fight night. In fact, McGregor claims he has already begun preparations for the contest, including going to bed early each night and wake up early every morning.
McGregor then doubled down on his intentions to be much more active in 2020, claiming his January bout will be “the beginning of my season.” After his January contest, McGregor intends on challenging the winner of Jorge Masvidal vs. Nate Diaz at UFC 244 on November 2. McGregor predicts Diaz will emerge victorious from that bout. Then, McGregor is eying the lightweight title and wants to fight the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson.
Nurmagomedov defeated McGregor back in October of last year via submission. McGregor desperately wants a rematch with the Russian and wants it to take place in Moscow.
“That is the bout we want,” McGregor said. “We want this bout in Moscow. The people of Russia deserve this bout to take place. The people of the world deserve this bout to take place.”
McGregor hasn’t picked up a victory in combat sports competition since November of 2016 when he finished Eddie Alvarez inside Madison Square Garden to become a two-weight world champion – the first in UFC history. “Mystic Mac” claims he wasn’t fully focused on his fight with Nurmagomedov last time around, but vows to right that wrong in 2020.
“The people who believe in me deserve better,” McGregor said. “It is an insult to the people that believe in me that I am not fully committed. So now I am coming back and I’m fully committed. And I am eager to come back and show the best of myself for my fans around the world.”
Who do you think will welcome McGregor back to the Octagon in January?
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