Conor McGregor’s legal troubles were barely letting him breathe when Demetrious Johnson put forth a peculiar question for him. It has become common knowledge that the Irishman’s money would be more than enough for him to spend the rest of his life in extreme luxury. This made the former UFC and ONE Championship title holder wonder about the reason behind McGregor’s return to the Octagon. But it was the Dubliner’s response that had the fighting community stupefied.

On 9th December 2024, the famed MMA reporter, Ariel Helwani, invited the former flyweight champion to his talk show, The Ariel Helwani Showr. As the conversation went on, the ‘Mighty Mouse’ quoted, “Conor McGregor if I was to ask him why are you still fighting? Like, what makes you wanna come back? You have all the money in the world that you can ever want. An extra $10-20 million that should not effect the $500 million he’s made of selling. I don’t know how much c—ine is, I don’t know but it can’t be that expensive.” 

McGregor stumbled upon Johnson’s words soon after they were shared on X. The ‘Mystic Mac’ had a quirky response for Johnson. Even though he has amassed more than $6 million, McGregor called him the “Lowest earner all time.” In another tweet, ‘The Notorious’ wrote, “How much does an Xbox cost hahahaaj.” Lastly, the Irish mixed martial artist dragged Dana White into the scuffle. He reflected on the trade-off between UFC and ONE Championship. That was indeed the trade that sent the ‘Mighty Mouse’ to ONE Championship and brought Ben Askren to the UFC. Needless to say, it was one of the worst mistakes White had ever made. McGregor continued his flurry of tweets and wrote, “Traded for Askren hahaha #byefelicia.”

But McGregor’s money has often attracted attention. And Johnson commented on that on several occasions. He claimed that every other fighter should take notes and focus on earning from sources other than the MMA cage.

Demetrious Johnson asks fighters to follow Conor McGregor

During his conversation with Helwani, the ‘Mighty Mouse’ lifted McGregor pretty high with praise. He emphasized the fact that even though the Irishman was out of action for more than 3 years, he didn’t let his net worth take a downfall. Instead, his income kept rising through his bars, restaurants, Proper No. 12, and many more. Needless to say, Johnson himself was on a similar boat with his YouTube channel. 

The ‘Mighty Mouse’ said, “Can I make more money from building the YouTube, the ‘Mighty’ merch, the project coming out in 2025? Can I make more money doing that stuff than fighting? When I do that, that’s f—–g, ‘You made it’. That’s f—–g dope. Like, Conor’s made more money from Proper No. Twelve, and all the s–t he’s got going on, than he has from fighting. And that’s amazing in my book. That’s what every athlete should strive for.” 

Many fighters have often complained about low fighter pay. But following Johnson’s advice would definitely resolve this issue, don’t you think? This was yet another reason why McGregor commanded the fighting community’s respect. 

What do you think is the reason behind McGregor’s return? Do you think it’s because he misses the action inside the Octagon? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.