Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
NOTE TO SHELF
Mcgregor: I quit again last year because I felt overlooked but I’ll probably never retire from UFC
CONOR MCGREGOR has claimed he retired from the UFC last year because he felt he had been “shelved” by the promotion.
The Dubliner made a fast start to 2020 with a 40-second victory over Donald Cerrone but then saw his plans thwarted by the coronavirus pandemic.
And in June he took to social media to announce he was hanging up his gloves for the third time in four years.
But he agreed a return and will take on Dustin Poirier this weekend in their rematch at UFC 257 which takes place at the Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.
And he told ESPN: “There were a lot of talks about me coming back, I was so eager to come back, I wanted to come back.
“The Tuesday after the Cerrone fight I had that meeting with Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White and the conversation was, ‘What is next?’ but we didn’t get the answer at the dinner.
“It didn’t come to fruition and I was eager and tried to get things moving but with all the circumstances, with the year it went the way it went and it is what it is.”
Mcgregor is again planning a packed schedule this year – and has no plans to officially walk away from the promotion again.
“I’ll probably never retire form the game to be honest, I’ll be competing for a long log time yet,” the 32-year-old added. “It was born out of frustration, when you’re trying to get these events and get things moving and it’s not happening.
“It felt like I was shelved, I felt like if I’d been run out a couple more times last year, not only would my skill set and my sharpness be in tune, we’d be talking $800million in revenue for the company. It is what it is, the past is the past. I’ve got what I needed to get off my chest and feel it’s been reciprocated well.
“We’re focusing on the positive and we’re in a good place.”
It has emerged that old
Mcgregor foe Khabib
Nurmagomedov could be tempted back into the octagon.
The 32-year-old
Russian retired in
October after moving his perfect record to 29-0 with a submission win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254.
Mcgregor lost to him at UFC 229 in 2018 but would not shirk the chance to meet again.
“I think he’s afraid to fight me. That’s for damn sure. And I don’t blame him. I know exactly what to face,” Mcgregor said. “I fought the best of him that night, he fought the worst of me on that night. He knows it.”