“I’ve got everyone clawing at me, trying to get at me, and that’s from multiple sports, multiple organisations, multiple everything.”
Conor McGregor has admitted he found it hard to say ‘No’ to exciting projects and proposals for a while, but he’s learning.
‘The Notorious’ has found himself inundated with offers – fights, advertising deals, movie deals and everything in between – ever since he went truly global by knocking José Aldo out in December 2015.
Just under two years, another UFC title, two epic Nate Diaz scraps, fatherhood and a boxing debut against Floyd Mayweather Jr. later, McGregor is getting choosier about how the projects he pours himself into.
At present, McGregor is on a mini media spin to promote the upcoming ‘Notorious’ documentary but, as a student of the fight game, he seems keenly aware of the pressing need to defend his UFC lightweight title.
We are close to the year anniversary of McGregor claiming the 155lb strap by defeating Eddie Alvarez at Madison Square Garden. While McGregor will not have defended his belt in 12 months, his next move should address that matter. In an interview with Entertainment.ie, McGregor said:
“I know there are many contenders in the UFC. There are many boxing contenders as well. What interests me is certainly a UFC bout, certainly a defense of my lightweight title. There is a fighter with the interim lightweight belt. I feel that will be next. We’ll see how negotiations go.”
Not for the first time – and we feel this could develop into a theme – McGregor mentioned Tony Ferguson [the interim champion] without referring to his name.
‘El Cucuy’ definitely has a groundswell of support after he racked up 10 consecutive wins in the lightweight division, including his win over Kevin Lee that won him the interim title. McGregor did mention the fact that he could defend his belt against Diaz to finish off their trilogy.
“Maybe we can persuade one of these boxing opponents to step into the Octagon,” he continued, “or there’s also boxing bouts as well. So, there’s so many options.
“I feel to legitimise the belt — there’s an interim champion, I’m the unified champion — I feel that will be next. We are currently in contract negotiations, and we’ll see where it goes.”
McGregor does not appear to be the sort of man that lies fallow for too long so expect an announcement about his next fight soon.
You can book tickets to ‘Notorious’ here.
