Despite being out of the Octagon for nearly three years, there is still a lot of uncertainty around Conor McGregor‘s comeback. After UFC CEO Dana White shot down the Irishman’s announcement of a UFC 302 bout against rival TUF 31 coach Michael Chandler on June 29, the Irishman has floated another date for his comeback.

On their ‘Weighing-In Podcast’, MMA referee John McCarthy and former UFC star Josh Thomson believe that the bombastic Dubliner may not be back this year and felt that he did not have what it takes to fight anymore because of an unexpected reason: his kids.

McCarthy thinks Conor McGregor having kids led to his decline

‘Big’ John McCarthy told Josh Thomson that he felt Conor McGregor was a very different person now from the halcyon days of him becoming the first concurrent two-division UFC champion. The legendary MMA referee pointed out that the Irishman had no kids back when he was in his prime circa 2012-16.

“If you take a look at Conor, he’s a different person. He looks different, you know. Just everything about him is not the look of a person that you say wants to be back in the sport… When I say he’s a different person, what I’m saying is he’s got, what, four kids now? I think back when Conor was being Conor and winning stuff how many kids did he have? Yeah, zero,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy pointed to the correlation between McGregor’s, first son, Conor Jr. being born in 2017 and the downturn in his fortunes, starting with his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2017. Since then, the Irishman has had three more kids with his partner Dee Devlin.

“Then he had his first son and then you know he’s got the three other ones now and that’s fantastic congratulations to him but it changes who you are,” he added. The 61-year-old stated that having children changes one’s perspective on life and felt ‘The Notorious’ will have to decide whether or not he wants to get through the punishment a fighter goes through.

Having kids changes you, it changes your perspective, it changes what you believe in, it changes your purpose, it changes what you’re willing to go through and what you’re willing to miss… And he’s gonna have to decide if any of that’s worth it but you know he’s a different person,”  McCarthy told Thomson. However, the Irishman seems not to be happy with Dana White’s refusal and has doubled down, floating a possible UFC 300 comeback.

‘Mac’ floats handler bout for UFC 300

At the UFC 297 post-fight press conference, Dana White denied that Conor McGregor will be returning at UFC 302, saying that the Irishman was not ready to fight yet. After this, the Irishman took to social media and floated a possible fight against Michael Chandler at the UFC 300 anniversary mega-card in April this year, which Chandler accepted at once.

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“McGregor on 300 seals the deal,” McGregor said on social media. “I accept. See you soon @TheNotoriousMMA #UFC300,” Chandler tweeted. However, given that Dana White has already said ‘Mac’ is not ready for a June date, it is almost certain McGregor vs. Chandler will not be happening at UFC 300.

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