McGregor On UFC Return: Where Did You Get 10 Months?

UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor has been rumored to be taking a lengthy amount of time off after his historic win over Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, as UFC President Dana White stated that ‘The Notorious One’ is expected to take 10 months off.

McGregor defeated Alvarez in the main event of UFC 205 via second round knockout to win the 155-pound title, and the then-featherweight champion became the first dual-weight champion in promotion history. During a recent interview with RTE after winning the Sportsperson of the Year for 2016 at the RTÉ Sport Awards (in association with Sport Ireland), ‘Mystic Mac’ said the historic feat was the culmination of 28 years of work:

“That was the culmination of 28-years of hard work,” he said. “That night was my entire’s life’s work, every single session, every single hour of training I put in was for that moment.

“It was an unbelievable moment for myself, my team, everyone who has come up with me on this journey. It was an amazing night for us all.”

Since his win in Madison Square Garden McGregor has found himself even deeper in the talks of a potential Mayweather boxing match, after having gotten his boxing license from the state of California. In regards to a fight with ‘Money’ in the near future, McGregor says fights like these take time to get done:

“I’ve got the boxing licence. His last pay-per-view was 350,000 buys. The fight was a flop, it was a dud. His last two fights have been duds. I certainly don’t need him.

“Of course the Floyd fight is the fight the public want to see, but we’ll see. These things take time.”

In response to the 10-month time table for his return given by White, McGregor says he only wanted to take the holidays off and is currently weighing his options to see what is next for him:

“As far as I break, I don’t know,” he said. “I know Dana [White] has been on record, he’s saying ‘10 months, he’s taking 10 months’, I don’t know.

“Originally I thought the baby was being born in March and then it was May so maybe I could get in another [fight]. I just don’t know. I’m weighing up my options.”

McGregor also stated that he has still yet to converse with the new owners of the UFC over at WME-IMG, and would like to know what the plan is going forward:

“Ari, Patrick, the new owners from WME-IMG, the guys that bought the UFC for $4 billion, I want to speak to them,” he said. “I want to see what their plan is. Because right now I don’t know what nobody’s plan is.”

Upon his return McGregor will certainly have a plethora of fight options to return to, as the new 155-pound champ has perennial contenders Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson waiting in the wings for their respective title shots, and some unfinished business with Nate Diaz needing to be settled as well.

Regardless of who McGregor is to step into the Octagon with next, you can rest assure that he will be looking to put on a show as always.