Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
We are once again waiting for the return of Conor McGregor. After witnessing the former UFC champion return to glory with a 40-second TKO win over Donald Cerrone this past January coming off a 15-month layoff fight fans now have to wait again for a “Notorious” comeback.
With ongoing COVID-19 restrictions still muddling the UFC’s schedule and availability of many of its premier fighters, someone like McGregor may not exactly fit into the promotion’s immediate plans.
Sure this entire “Fight Island” idea could spark some interest from the UFC’s biggest cash cow, but McGregor isn’t in the same position as other fighters. The Irish superstar doesn’t have to fight ever again, let alone take less of a payday to fight in front of some washed up seaweed and empty coconut shells. He has enough money to buy his own island and host his own fights.
This is why UFC president Dana White has no idea when McGregor is going to return. With live gates a thing of the past (for now) and COVID-19 procedures overshadowing most of the typical UFC pre-fight flare, McGregor may in fact choose to sit on the sidelines and await normalcy.
“Unless there’s an absolute miracle and the world turns around in the next three months, which I don’t see happening – people are crazy right now over this thing – I don’t know (if McGregor will fight),” White told reporters on Friday (h/t MMA Junkie). “I don’t know anymore. Since this thing started, I’ve been trying to get ahead of it and get ahead of it and get ahead of it. And every time we thought we got ahead of it, the next day it would change. I’m not going to sit here and act like now that it’s all starting to come back, I know what’s going to happen 30 days from now, because I don’t.
“I’m in the same boat as everybody else. I’m just trying to think ahead and figure this thing out and be aggressive – be aggressive, but be smart about it. I highly doubt (McGregor will lower his asking price to fight). I’ve got guys hammering me for more money right now. Apparently they don’t watch the news and know we’re in a pandemic. That isn’t their problem.”
While McGregor has mostly utilized his time off to assist his home country of Ireland with the ongoing coronavirus spread, “Notorious” has also kept things interesting in the world of combat sports. Not only did McGregor spark a widespread discussion last week about the greatest MMA fighters of all time, but he somehow ended up accepting a superfight from UFC legend Anderson Silva as well, proving that our time is getting stranger by the moment.
Still, McGregor remains focused on fighting and believes he has the ability to make another run at a UFC title and avenge his previous loss to rival and current UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. McGregor may even decide to take another stab at undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., but all of that will come in due time.
For now, fans will have to wait as things progress before McGregor is able to return to action for another run at history.