He will always be the very first ‘Champ Champ’ in UFC history and a true legend of the sport, but ‘The Notorious’ has some reputational work to sort in 2019.
Conor McGregor once claimed he was going to get in, get rich and get out of the fight game.
He then told fight fans, ahead of his UFC comeback, that he was just a guy that ‘loved a knock’ and he had no plans to retire any time soon.
Before he fought, and lost to, Khabib Nurmagomedov, McGregor told The Mac Life, “I fell out of love with the game for a bit, went off on to my own thing.” He was back, he declared in October, to reclaim his throne.
That never happened and he was comprehensively beaten by ‘The Eagle’ to tap out for the fourth time in his career. Nurmagomedov wanted to bring McGregor into the later rounds and test his takedown defence and endurance under duress.
It was a brave outing from McGregor but November 2016, when he told Nurmagomedov that he would have to prove he was worthy of taking on ‘The Champ Champ’, seemed a long, long time ago.
What next for McGregor? The man himself insists he is not done, his coach John Kavanagh wants him fully committed to a gruelling, old-school training camp, UFC president Dana White is teeing up old foe Dustin Poirier and a rake of other fighters are still keen on a ‘red panty night’.
Audie Attar, McGregor’s manager, is in California for UFC 232 and he told MMA Betz about the Dubliner’s future plans. Attar said:
“We’re still going through the Nevada State Athletic Commission hearing [following the post-fight UFC 229 brawl]. That was postponed until January but we are confident in those results.
“Everything [else] is normal; just keep it moving. Conor didn’t enjoy the loss and he’s looking to avenge that loss, but it is what it is. That’s kind of the attitude he has.
“He has moved on with his life and he’s launched his Proper 12 whiskey, so he’s been busy with that, and he has a growing family. They are expecting another child soon.
“And he’s really just focusing on getting back in the gym consistently so when he does make that step back into The Octagon, that he is ready to go and he’s at his best.”
The ‘gym consistently’ comment is in line with what White and Kavanagh have touched on in recent weeks. If McGregor can get that drive back, 2019 could be another one to remember.
