UFC president Dana White believes there’s a chance Conor McGregor will get the itch to compete again next year.
As it stands, McGregor says he’s retired from MMA competition. Despite this, the “Notorious” one isn’t afraid to hurl jabs at fighters such as his old foe Dustin Poirier. McGregor’s retirement is a tough sell for many fight fans as the former UFC “champ-champ” has told this story before only to return to the Octagon.
Dana White Thinks Conor McGregor Could Fight Again Next Year
Appearing as a guest on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, White discussed McGregor’s retirement and said a return for “Mystic Mac” wouldn’t surprise him (via BJPenn.com).
“What’s going on with Conor McGregor is what goes on with all professional athletes when they become extremely wealthy,” White said of the Irish MMA superstar. “Conor McGregor is rich. He gets to pick and choose what he wants to do now, and he’s at that point in his career where he’s got a few fights left. As of right now, he’s retired, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he came out and wanted to fight somebody next year after all these different fights play out.”
McGregor’s last outing was back in Jan. 2020. He took on Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in the main event of UFC 246. McGregor scored a TKO victory in just 40 seconds. It was McGregor’s first win since Nov. 2016 and his first pro bout since Oct. 2018.
Before announcing his retirement, McGregor appeared eager to get back inside the Octagon. He even took aim at interim UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje, saying he was going to “butcher” Gaethje for calling him a “sh*t father.” Gaethje is expected to take on 155-pound champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in a title unification bout.
The problem McGregor has had lies with the UFC’s decision-making. McGregor didn’t agree with the lightweight title unification bout being pushed back to September. He also felt the promotion kept going against his wishes. The lack of enticing offers led McGregor to announce another retirement.
