To this day, almost everybody knows of Conor McGregor, at least for those familiar with contact sports and those who loves controversy. He is a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter who gained his fame by winning a couple of championship titles back in 2012.
He started his MMA career way back in 2008, and was involved in 25 official matches. He had convincingly won 21 of them, and 18 were by knockouts. This was an amazing feat, considering that most of his opponents were as popular and as fierce as him back then. But that wasn’t all that gained him his popularity. He was somewhat infamous for his undisciplined and disorderly actions, a loose cannon if you will.
With his recent fight in 2017, which was an official boxing match by the way, against the undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr, he took home a large sum of $100 million even though he lost the fight. With that large amount of money, there were a lot of speculations whether the famed fighter would still want to fight for a living. Even Dana White doubts Conor would fight again in the UFC stating,
“The guy’s got a f—ing $100 million, – And fighting is the worst. Try to get up and get punched in the face for a living when you’ve got $100 million in the bank.”
– Dana White, President of UFC
After many months of waiting, the fighter announced his retirement on March 26, 2019 on twitter, stating,
“Hey guys quick announcement, I’ve decided to retire from the sport formally known as “Mixed Martial Art” today. I wish all my old colleagues well going forward in competition. I now join my former partners on this venture, already in retirement. Proper Pina Coladas on me fellas!”
– Conor McGregor via Twitter
The tweet received a lot of response and most were non-believers, explaining that this was just some kind of a promotion to hype up MMA fans. He even teased fans with a cryptic tweet,
“If I told you how confident I was for the future, you wouldn’t believe me. But your belief is not needed.”
– Conor McGregor via Twitter
Dana White Talks Conor McGregor’s Return to UFC
Even after the fighter’s retirement, Dana White is somewhat convinced that Conor will return to the ring and fight for his fans, stating,
“Me and Conor communicate every day. We’ve been talking all this week. Things are good with Conor and I and we’ll get something figured out soon.”
– Dana White, President of UFC
He also added,
“Conor likes to be in a position where he holds the cards and he does what he wants to do. And, you know, he and I figure out how to work together and how to make it all happen.” – Dana White, Ultimate Fighting Championship President
– Dana White, President of UFC
And not surprisingly, Conor McGregor did denounce his retirement with a tweet stating,
“I want to move forward, with my fans of all faiths and all backgrounds. All faiths challenge us to be our best selves. It is one world and one for all Now see you in the Octagon.”
– Conor McGregor via Twitter
In just a few hours, there were a lot of laughs and disappointments expressed regarding his tweet. The most interesting one would probably be a statement regarding him as a cash cow for Dana White. To be fair, he is a successful cash cow, considering the number of fans and non-fans who wants to see the fighter back in the ring.
Despite of his two latest fights that both resulted in a loss, Dana White seems unconcerned of the fighter’s record, stating,
“He lost to the greatest boxer, arguably of all time, in a boxing match”
– Dana White, President of UFC
He added,
“Conor, was [in] his first boxing match and he did really really well. [He] earned a lot of respect from people from that fight.”
– Dana White, President of UFC
For his other loss, Dana White further stated,
“Then, the next fight that he lost was [against] Khabib, who is the champion, undefeated and the best guy in the world right now. So, it’s not like he lost to some guys that were eight-nine-ten. He lost to two of the best in the world in their sports. So, yes, Conor McGregor is still very much relevant and very much in the game.”
– Dana White, President of UFC
Coming from the CEO himself, it is a sure sign that Conor McGregor indeed came out of retirement. Dana White also stated that the fight may take place midway through 2019. When asked if who he would most likely fight, he stated,
“These guys [Holloway-Poirier] are the interim champions, they’re fighting to fight Khabib,”
– Dana White, President of UFC
He added,
“This is a great opportunity for Holloway to, obviously the Poirier fight. and then Conor is out there too for him, two guys that he lost to that he could get those marks off of his record”
– Dana White, President of UFC
