Conor McGregor’s next move will be a fascinating one.
He’s clarified that he’s not retired and is still pushing hard for his welterweight rematch with Nate Diaz to be reinstated to July’s UFC 200 card.
But it’s looking increasingly likely that the promotion is holding firm and will not cave in to McGregor after he refused to fulfil some media obligations over the last fortnight.
It now appears that the Diaz fight will not be McGregor’s next with suggestions from UFC president Dana White that matchmakers are actively looking to give Diaz a fight on the UFC 200 card while McGregor’s next bout will likely come against the winner of Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar.
McGregor suggested that he would indeed fight the winner of the interim featherweight title fight before the end of 2016 in a lengthy series of tweets on Monday afternoon.
I look forward to my end of year unification bout. But like I said before.
These featherweights don't understand… https://t.co/LzHsGsQP75— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) May 2, 2016
But McGregor’s teammate and sparring partner Gunnar Nelson has claimed that his friend’s weight cut to 145 lbs is so difficult that he would prefer to see McGregor continue his career at lightweight, a more natural weight class for the Dubliner.
“I would like to see him in the 155 lbs division but it’s really just up to him and whatever he wants to do,” Nelson said on The MMA Hour.
“With 145 lbs, I know he can go back down and defend his title, no problem.
“I just think he doesn’t want to do that cut again. It’s a nasty one and I agree with him. I understand that.
“I would like to see him go to the 155 lbs division before going all the way up to welterweight but he’ll do whatever he feels like.”
Nelson, who fights Albert Tumenov at the UFC’s inaugural event in Rotterdam this Sunday, has been at the centre of the media storm that followed McGregor’s apparent retirement a fortnight ago.
The now-infamous tweet posted by ‘The Notorious’ was sent from Nelson’s gym in Iceland and ‘Gunni’ has explained what it was like to be with McGregor while the whole story exploded.
I have decided to retire young.
Thanks for the cheese.
Catch ya's later.— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) April 19, 2016
He said: “I think it kind of happened because he wanted to really focus on his training for this fight and he felt like going over there and doing all this media stuff was going to take away from his training and I think that’s the reason why he kind of had enough of that.
“Like he says, he’s done dancing like a monkey and he wants to focus on training. And I understand that.
“And he felt like going over there was going to come down on his training so he decided to retire. He was retired! He said the same thing to us as everyone else. He didn’t just put it up and say he was retired when really he wasn’t. He was going to retire.
“And then I think he changed his mind and wanted to see if he could come back. I don’t know exactly how he was thinking it through or what exactly the deal was but I believe he’s definitely going to come back and fight.
“When exactly, I’m not sure but maybe UFC 201 or UFC 202. I would definitely put my money on him coming back and I believe the money is there as well.”
