No rest for the weary.
After suffering the first loss of his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) career at the hands of Nate Diaz at UFC 196 In Las Vegas, Nevada (see it again here), Conor McGregor is ready to jump back on the horse.
And he wants to do it as soon as possible.
That’s according to UFC president Dana White, who told The Russillo and Kanell show on ESPN that “Notorious” is already plotting his Octagon return. Date and opponent, however, have yet to be determined.
White speaks:
“I was at his house last night talking to him. He wants to fight again as soon as possible. He wants to jump back in there and he wants to fight again. We’re working on who the next opponent will be.”
Of course, the brash head honcho is still gushing over his golden goose, who took a chance and jumped up two weight classes in order to save the pay-per-view (PPV) event after Rafael dos Anjos bowed of out their lightweight title fight with an injury.
“What happened Saturday night, Conor was supposed to go for a second world title at 155 pounds. Rafael dos Anjos, the guy he was supposed to fight, broke his foot and pulled out of the fight 10 days before so Conor said ‘let’s fight Nate Diaz at 170’. We’re like what? He goes ‘yeah I want to fight him’. So we call Nate Diaz and we ended up making that fight. Conor McGregor is so much fun in the fight business. Guys don’t do that. Guys who are making the money that Conor McGregor makes, has the money in the bank, and all the things that are going on with him, he has a world title, he just decides to jump up two weight classes and fight somebody else.”
So how soon can we realistically expect to see McGregor back in action? All signs are pointing to July 9, as “Notorious” is expected to headline the monumental UFC 200 event in “Sin City” in a featherweight title fight that will see him defend his strap for the first time.
As it stands, Frankie Edgar and Jose Aldo are the front runners to face him, with Aldo having a slight advantage, according to the Irishman’s camp.
And while no one can blame McGregor for trying to make a quick turnaround in an effort to erase the memory of this beatdown, it’s safe to say the big paydays both he and UFC collect when he fights are a nice incentive to get back into the swing of things, as well.