Conor McGregor Admits He Fell Out Of Love With Fighting
Conor McGregor admits that he fell out love with fighting or in his words, “the game” which is why he had to take a step away. From the outside looking in, his relationship with the UFC and its President Dana White appeared to be good. However, McGregor mentioned in an interview that was not the case due to the actions made by the Las Vegas-based promotion.
Success
He won the featherweight title after beating Jose Aldo at UFC 194 in December of 2015 but never defended it and was later stripped of it by the UFC. McGregor has not been seen in the Octagon since UFC 205 when he won the lightweight title from Eddie Alvarez. Once again, he never defended the title and was stripped as a result. McGregor then fought in a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather in August of 2017 but lost by TKO.
Conor McGregor Admits
McGregor stated in an interview given to his own website, The Mac Life that he was upset with the UFC over how they stripped him of his belts as he took it personally. The reason for that is due to him claiming that winning those titles meant everything to him.
”I fell out of love with the game for a bit, went off on to my own thing,” McGregor said. “Had many things going on. Now I’m back. I’m hungry to compete. And we’re here right on the cusp of it. Making weight, handling the media obligations. And that’s it. I spent my entire life’s work to win those two world titles,” he continued.
“Those two UFC world titles. I set out a goal, I put everything, absolutely everything, sacrificed so much times, sacrificed so much to gain those world titles. And then as soon as I win the second world title, I wasn’t even offered a featherweight contest and the featherweight title was taken off of me and handed back to a man that I had a crazy history with.”
Stripped Of The Belts
McGregor went into further detail about his world tour with Aldo and the aftermath of winning the featherweight belt. He claimed they ‘gave the belt back’ after he walked out of UFC 205 the following year even though he had not defended it:
“I traveled the world with a two year build up. He ended up pulling out last minute. Blah blah blah blah blah, when I end the fight, I knock him out in in 13 seconds and then they give the belt back as soon as I walk out the Octagon in Madison Square Garden. And then like, what, about a month, a month or two, the lightweight belt is stripped from me also.”
McGregor admitted that being stripped of the title irritated him. He didn’t like who was fighting for what he viewed as his belts, and now he’s back to remedy that situation. Overall, he’s ready to show the fight game who the ‘real king’ is:
”So these kind of things irritate me,” McGregor concluded. “Especially seeing what way it goes, who the belts are given to, who the people are that are challenging the belts. Who the person who has the belt is facing to get the belt. Many things irritate me in the game, and just watching it unfold, I just became more hungry to come back and show who the real king is.”
The UFC 229 pay-per-view event is set to take place on Saturday, October 6, 2018 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET.
