Conor McGregor sent shockwaves amongst the MMA world when he retired from fighting following the conclusion of UFC 250. When asked if he was serious, ‘Notorious’ gave fans an insight that he wasn’t excited anymore. Heavyweight contender Daniel Cormier opened up on the topic and said it’s not worth it for the UFC to let this happen.
Daniel Cormier opens up on Conor McGregor retiring
‘DC’ who like ‘Notorious’ has held 2 championships simultaneously highlighted the aura of the Irishman on the show ‘DC and Helwani.’
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“Everything’s just bigger when he competes. And the whole aspect of that is gone when he fights in front of no fans. So I get why there’s a little hesitancy there. But it’s not worth risking losing him for the long term because you can’t make him happy right now.”
The duo discussed a hungry and motivated McGregor. ‘DC’ says, “You gotta figure it out, you gotta make it happen. Again it’s not worth the penalty if he walks away. It’s not worth it, you gotta make it work for him.”
‘Notorious’ told ESPN MMA’s Ariel Helwani, “The game just does not excite me. All this waiting around. There’s nothing happening. I’m going through opponent options and there’s nothing really there at the minute.”
This comes hot on the heels of Dana White saying the best thing for the 4th ranked Lightweight contender to do is wait and let things unfold.
It seemingly doesn’t excite ‘Notorious’ who wanted to fight 3 times a year and make up for lost time having competed just once from 2017-2019.
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‘Notorious’ tweeted that he would be back in July, however, no Lightweight opponent is available. Meanwhile, UFC President Dana White has gone on the record to say it kills him to do a Conor fight without fans. Furthermore, he dismissed a Welterweight title fight against Kamaru Usman. Also to the dismay of fans, he poured cold water on a mega-fight against Anderson Silva at Catchweight.
It seems as though the UFC wanted to keep ‘Notorious’ away for as long as possible.
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Based on his comments to Ariel Helwani, fans may see a glimmer of hope that ‘Notorious’ will be back as soon as something excites him.
Do you see Conor McGregor returning once the UFC welcomes fans into their arenas? Or is he done for good this time around?