A lot has transpired since Conor McGregor’s last MMA fight back in November 2016. A decisive victory over Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 established him as the king of UFC’s Featherweight and Lightweight divisions. After that history making performance, McGregor went on hiatus from UFC, welcomed the birth of his son and fought Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a record-shattering boxing spectacle.
UFC has been without its top box office attraction for the past 15 months. This is a predicament the company has been working hard to remedy. Conor McGregor’s future has been the subject of much speculation. In recent weeks, Joe Rogan predicted UFC will strip the former dual-champion of his remaining Lightweight Championship. McGregor’s nutritionist told Ariel Helwani last month that he 100% expects The Notorious back in the Octagon soon.
There is good news for fight fans, as UFC’s negotiations with Conor McGregor are said to be going well. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports the two sides are not far apart in terms of hammering out a deal. In what has to be considered an encouraging sign, the ongoing discussions involve Conor McGregor fighting twice for UFC in 2018.
Conor McGregor’s Future: The Hype vs. Reality
Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been making a lot of noise in recent weeks about a possible rematch with McGregor inside the Octagon. The prospect of (lucrative) redemption against Mayweather on his own turf has to be appealing to McGregor. This scenario is highly unlikely, although the chances of their boxing match happening was once considered a long-shot at best.
If all goes well with the negotiations, Conor McGregor will face the winner of Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 223 on April 7th. Conor McGregor would then find himself at another crossroads.
The 29-year-old champion has already cemented himself a Hall of Famer caliber career. He has accumulated fabulous wealth and will have no shortage of opportunities in front of him. At the end of the day, it be his his desire to fight and the money on the table that will determine his schedule in 2019.
Hit up the comments and tell us if you expect Conor McGregor back in UFC this year. In addition to Ferguson/Khabib winner, who else do you want to see him fight?
