Type ‘Conor McGregor’ and ‘Croke Park’ into Google and you get 184,000 results.
Two words were noticeably absent from all of the post-UFC 194 talk: Croke and Park.
First mooted back in 2014, when it seemed to be more of a pipe-dream, The Notorious selling out Croke Park now appears as logical as Ed Sheeran filling Wembley Stadium three times over.
Now, McGregor is the undisputed UFC featherweight champion and toying with the idea of challenging for the lightweight strap.
Dana White has said, on 10 previous occasions, that McGregor and Croke Park are a match made in promotional heaven. However, there was scant mention – by White or McGregor – of the GAA headquarters after the Dubliner knocked Jose Aldo last month.
While the summer of 2016 seems like the most logical time to put on a UFC event at Croker, the promotion may roll McGregor out for UFC 200, in July, at the new Las Vegas Arena.
September or October of this year may then be the most likely months for what would be a gigantic homecoming but Joe Duffy believes Croke Park may have to wait until next year. He also believes McGregor could be facing him – the last man who actually defeated him in the octagon.
Duffy told MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani, “Without a doubt, I feel we could sell out Croke Park.
“It would be like the Gaelic – Donegal versus Dublin. I definitively feel it could sell out Croke Park. By the end of the year, a lot more people could be talking about that fight.” He added:
“I don’t think 2016. I think 2017.”
The Tristar fighter admits he is not quite ‘Mystic Mac’ when it comes to predictions and remarks that he doesn’t like ‘to tempt fate’.
