“He’s Gone” – Conor McGregor is not fighting again according to Matt Brown
Conor McGregor is done. At least, Matt Brown thinks he is.
It’s been over three years since the Irish megastar graced the Octagon. In June, McGregor was scheduled to headline UFC 303 in Las Vegas, but a broken pinky toe forced ‘Mystic Mac’ out of his headliner with former Bellator champion Michael Chandler.
Now, fans and fighters alike are calling into question whether or not we’ll actually see the former two-division titleholder fight in the Octagon ever again.
Brown, who announced his retirement from mixed martial arts in May after logging 30 fights with the UFC over the course of 15 years, believes that McGregor’s days of competing in the UFC are over.
“He’s gone,” Brown said of McGregor on The Fighter vs. The Writer. “I’ve said it for a long time now. How many years have I been saying it? He’s done. I don’t discount that there’s a chance that he comes back, but the chances of him coming back are way lower than the chances of him not fighting again. He’s at, like, a 20-percent chance of coming back, I think.
“He’s doing great staying in the news, doing great keeping his name out there. We’d all love to see him fight still. I’d love to see him fight Chandler, whoever I’d love to see Conor fight — if he’s training properly, staying off the various substances, or whatever it is. Come in the real Conor. Live your life all want when you’re 45 and you’re retired and you’re totally out. Enjoy it then, but for now, let’s see all the fights. Let’s see them. I want to see you fight” (h/t MMA Fighting).
Brown believes Michael chandler will live to regret waiting around for conor mcGregor
McGregor’s quote-unquote “greatest comeback in combat sports history” was first announced in early 2023 when it was revealed that he would compete as a coach opposite Chandler on last year’s season of The Ultimate Fighter. That has since come and gone, yet the two seem no closer to clashing in the cage than they were 18 months ago.
It’s an especially frustrating situation for the 38-year-old Chandler who has been waiting on McGregor for the last two years, giving up a big chunk of the precious little time he has left to compete at the highest level.
“In my view, you only live once and this is a short window of time in your life that you get to compete at the highest level,” Brown said of Chandler’s situation. “I think he’s going to look back when he’s 50, 60 years old and be like, ‘I missed out on a couple of years there just waiting for a payday.’ I don’t think he’s hurting for money anyways [but], ‘I waited for this payday and I could have been out there putting myself on the line.’
“I think Michael Chandler’s a competitor. I think he wants to be out there putting it on the line. I think he’s going to end up regretting this someday.”
Chandler may not necessarily agree as he’s kept himself fairly busy over the last couple of years, but if the fight with McGregor never comes to fruition, we can’t help but wonder how many other interesting matchups he’s left on the table.
