Conor McGregor explains why he was not active in 2020. The fighter will headline this week’s PPV show UFC 257, along with Dustin Poirier.
Conor McGregor gives a befitting reply to ESPN’s Stephen Smith when asked about how he still sees himself as the top draw fighter, despite having been competed only twice in the last four years. McGregor, who will mark his return at the forthcoming pay-per-view UFC 257 cut out a confident figure at the event’s press conference and in the later interviews.
While most of the media interactions did not bother the Irishman man but his interview with Steven Smith almost brought out a heated reaction from McGregor.
In the interview, Smith was Blunt about McGregor’s loss to Khabib in 2018 and told that Nurmagomedov, who came onto his how a few months ago, vehemently said that a rematch with McGregor does not make sense. To which McGregor opined that these are all signs of fear, and Nurmagomedov is afraid to fight him again.
“All that sounds like fear to me. In my opinion, he [is] mentally broken and dipped out again, and that’s it. The world knows this war is not over. You know, so much has gone on. So much has happened in the aftermath of that bout all across the board, even up to now. The fight must take place,” asserted Conor McGregor. “If he wants to keep running, he can keep running. I’m back here at 155 pounds. I’ve got an array of opponents to choose from. I know Dana, as as his manager are, pressing him to get back in there. If he doesn’t… that’s it. What can you do? We move on.”
“Why UFC Fighters don’t want to fight Conor McGregor”
Later, when asked about his retirement stints and how he is still relevant in the title contention even after being inactive for the majority of the last half a decade. To which the Mystic Mac said it’s not his fault that he hasn’t been active of late.
“It’s not been because of me, regarding the inactivity, [do] you know what I mean? It’s clear as day [that] I’ve been trying to get bouts non-stop. I’ve been rattling off names, dates, opponents, everything… and, you know, to no avail.
“In fact, this fight with Dustin, it went a peculiar way. We were going to do some charity, a charity fight outside of the UFC because I wasn’t getting matched,” said Conor McGregor. “Now, in fairness, the coronavirus situation and regarding the crowd and all that… but, I mean, I am an athlete. I am a competitor. I deserve to compete. It’s not fair to my fans.
“It’s not fair to myself. I must compete for sharpness. I want to entertain my fans. So, like I said up there on the day, just now on the press conference: There’s three other men, so there’s four of us up there, which is multiple opponents, that’s why I’m very happy with that. I don’t care about stature, or prestige, or any of that as long as I can get my competition in. And that’s it. You’ll see soon enough. You’ll see exactly what I’m saying soon enough.”
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