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UFC lightweight champ Conor McGregor broke barriers with his record-setting boxing match against Floyd Mayweather.
Now, he wants to become the first fighter to co-promote an MMA event with the UFC – and he claims he won’t return unless the McGregor Sports and Entertainment logo finds its way inside the octagon.
“I was promoter on the Mayweather fight, and we’re in current negotiations,” McGregor told the crowd during a Q&A prior to the debut of his biopic “Notorious” in Dublin. “I ain’t stepping in that octagon again unless I’m part owner of the whole setup – I’m a promoter.”
McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) was answering a question about whether his future plans include a homecoming fight, perhaps at Croke Park in Dublin. The Irish star seemed hesitant about the idea, saying his considerations for taking a fight are different now that he’s playing a role in the business behind the events. But he also admitted the pull of a fight on home soil might prove too strong.
At the moment, McGregor said he’s still weighing his options as to his next move. Although he appeared to welcome a UFC lightweight title unifier against interim champ Tony Ferguson(24-3 MMA, 14-1 UFC), and UFC President Dana White said the fight is next on his schedule, he said the experience of watching his story play out on screen brought his current situation into perspective.
“Seeing this, it’s taking me back and making me realize, if I really, truly want to get back into the fighting – I’m in (the) negotiation stage,” McGregor said. “Everyone’s trying to get me to do something for money, and that’s all the way up, and all the way down. That’s from the fight game, that’s talk, that’s what they’re trying to do.
“They’re trying to get me back before the end of the year to make the company money so they can re-service the debt after the big $4.2 billion sale and all this bollocks, and I’m sitting there watching them type of wars I came through, back-to-back-to-back, and watching how I got there, and I’m like, I need to take my time here. I’m in no hurry. I’m in a great position. I’m in the forever money stage now. My money is up there rattling around in the money counter machine, so I’m good.”
McGregor banked a guaranteed $30 million for his boxing match with Mayweather, the highest disclosed purse ever taken home for a UFC fighter. But he said his payday could “clear $100 million” if the event performed as expected on pay-per-view. According to White, it did and then some, drawing 6.7 million buys worldwide.
The UFC president didn’t raise an objection to McGregor’s promotional company getting involved in “The Money Fight,” though the fighter was not listed as an official promoter of the event, as was UFC parent Zuffa.
McGregor, though, claims he was a promoter and would need to share the role with Zuffa if he returns to the UFC. That would put him in uncharted territory, as no fighter or other promotional entity has shared such a relationship with the industry-leading fight promotion.
UFC 219 serves as the UFC’s end-of-year event on Dec. 30 at T-Mobile Arena, and McGregor’s inclusion has been heavily speculated.
Whatever the UFC lightweight champ decides to do next, he said his top priority is making sure it’s the right deal for him – and the right preparation to ensure success.
“I still love fighting,” he said. “I love watching that (movie). I’m twitching watching all them shots being thrown. It’s just something I love to do. I don’t know what it is. I will fight again, no doubt, and I’ll fight multiple times. But when I do do it, I must eliminate all the outside stuff, because there’s so much business stuff, so much personal stuff, so much everything involved in an empire – running it, maintaining it, building it.
“You’ve got all these separate entities growing. I’ve got employees that have employees, and it’s all involved in this whole bubble. So if I truly get back and it’s time to fight again, I must distance myself.”
Conor McGregor declares he won't return to UFC unless he's co-promoter
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