Conor McGregor is ready to get back to work. If the price is right.
McGregor has not competed since 2021 after shattering his leg against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264, but that long drought may soon end. Since the announcement of UFC White House, McGregor began lobbying for a spot atop that card; however, the UFC has other ideas, and McGregor is hopeful he’ll be back soon, perhaps at International Fight Week.
“I was up for the White House,” McGregor told SmashCast. “I know the administration was strong
for me to be at the White House. It was McGregor vs. [Michael] Chandler, the story was built in, Chandler is a standup guy, he’s electric in the cage, he comes to bring it. I’m the Mac, I’ll fly through the air on an opponent like Chandler. It would have been dynamite as far as a fight.
“Somewhere down the line — not me ever saying ‘No’ or ‘Not enough money’ or nothing. Just, ‘Maybe we’re going to go with you for International Fight Week.’ OK, no problem. ‘Maybe we’re going to leave Chandler.’ Ah, I do like Chandler. I might have been preparing for him for the last two years. I feel a bit weird. He deserves to go after the waiting. You know if would be a great fight. It makes sense, it’s easy done, it gets me back in there, but if they’re off it, I’m not going to be too picky.
“I have to get back. I’m eager to get back. … So OK, sorry Chandler, it is what it is. …
“I can’t decide what these men do, and I don’t want to,” McGregor added. “I don’t doubt them. It’s like in this current climate, we’re all cattle. All these fighters, we’re all cattle. I just happen to be free-range. I’m organic. I’m like wagyu walking around the f*cking farm. So, I’m just waiting to be f*cking wheeled out. Hopefully it’s coming soon. It’s looking like it is.”
Of course, things are very different in the UFC these days. The promotion signed a new broadcast rights deal with Paramount, effectively ending pay-per-views, which was the bulk of McGregor’s pay structure, as the biggest star in the history of the sport. On top of that, Zuffa Boxing, the sister promotion of the UFC, recently signed Conor Benn to a $15 million, one-fight contract, meaning McGregor expects due compensation in this new world.
“Currently, we’re in this space where we’re going from the pay-per-view model, which was my model,” McGregor said. “I ran the PPVs. I’m the only fighter in the current landscape that has 1 million PPV buys behind them. All the rest of them are a couple hundred thousand here. They’re getting these deals from outside sources, astronomical figures with no backing. They’ve done nothing in the game. Not at my level.
“So now, we’re entering this streaming space and … I want to get in there and do that. I want to take over these streaming rankings figures and set these records. So, what does it mean to the promotion and the content provider in Paramount? It means the records, that what it means.
“How much do you think it’s worth? How much do you think McGregor to return is worth? Someone said, if your man Conor f*cking Benn [is worth $15 million], how much do you think McGregor is worth in this climate, factoring in inflation alone! My contract was in 2018. Every f*cking thing has gone up. Even the milk and eggs, let alone inflation.
“Then you factor in that’s a big deal them boys doing. Them boys are powerful men. I have to tip my hat to that. That whole Paramount situation, even with the Paramount acquisition, [buying] Warner Brothers. It’s unbelievable. It’s colossal!
“How much do you think the Mac is worth?”
It remains to be seen if McGregor will actually return, or when, but the former two-division champion is adamant he’s ready to return to the sport, and not just as a one-off. “Notorious” has caught the MMA bug again and wants to write a whole new chapter in his storied career.
“I’m only starting,” McGregor said. “Once I can get this ball rolling, blow on this ball and get it going, push it down the hill, I’m going. I’m going for it. I have another contract, another fight after. I want to keep going. I feel with certain things in my recovery and my work, with modern-day science and backed by God, I’m gonna go to f*cking 50. I’m not bowing out of this.”
