Brendan Schaub Explains Why Conor McGregor Is Steering Ship For UFC

The biggest question on everyone’s mind is what’s next for UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor following his TKO loss to Floyd Mayweather in his professional boxing debut.

UFC President Dana White has gone on record by stating that McGregor will be back to defend his lightweight championship before the end of the year. One problem with that is the fact of a possible boxing match with Paulie Malignaggi or the lucrative trilogy fight with Nate Diaz. To add onto all of that, there’s also the possibility that McGregor never laces up the gloves again.

To say that McGregor’s future in combat sports is up in the air is an understatement. Going into the boxing bout, there was speculation that McGregor might never return to MMA due to the money that he would receive. Now that the Pay-Per-View numbers are currently trending towards the highest of all time, it’s entirely possible McGregor could choose to retire on the back of this huge payday.

Former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub appeared on a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience Fight Companion podcast, and during the podcast, Schaub suggested that post-Mayweather fight, McGregor is far too big a star to return to the UFC on the same contract he was before being one-half of the biggest fight of all time.

“Conor has changed the game for the better, especially if you’re the fighter,” said Schaub (transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting). “With WME, he’s steering the ship. Think about it, he made over – the numbers have come out, and they’re saying it’s gonna be the biggest Pay-Per-View of all time – so he made $100 million, right? So you’re telling me if you’re Conor and you’re part of his team you’re gonna go, ‘Hey, fight Nate Diaz for $5-10 million and also, we need you to wear this Reebok, and they’re gonna pay you $100,000 a year.’ You think Conor’s gonna [do that]? You’re crazy.

“You’re playing a different game now. You’re talking about the biggest athlete in combat sports. You’re not getting him for the $200,000 you were paying him a year. He can go, ‘Listen, I’m down to wear Reebok, but it’s a different animal now.’”

A trilogy fight with Diaz is currently the frontrunner for McGregor’s next fight. The belief is that the bout could sell north of 2 million buys with the bump McGregor gets from his bout with Mayweather. However, Schaub believes McGregor vs. Paulie Malignaggi is the fight to be made.

“Conor’s changing the dynamics for everyone because now when you want him to fight again, you can’t have him agree to those old terms. He’s a smart guy, and he learned anything from Floyd, you know when you fight Floyd you’re fighting a different animal. . .

“That contract doesn’t matter if it’s out or not. The game has changed. There’s no way you keep going with that current contract. If I’m Conor and I have McGregor promotions . . . I’m just gonna go to Dublin, and me and Paulie are gonna sell this 70,000 stadium out, and I’m just gonna take all of it.”