Conor McGregor wants to return to UFC
- Published
'The Notorious' has made a big statement about returning to the octagon
Connor McGregor says he’s ready to come back to the UFC octagon.
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Frankie Edgar was expected to take on fellow American Max Holloway for the featherweight title at UFC 222, but when Holloway was forced to withdraw owing to injury, he was replaced by Brian Ortega.
McGregor claims that he had put his name forward to be Holloway's replacement to face Edgar in Las Vegas, but was told that there wasn’t enough time to generate the money that UFC would need.
However, Frankie Edgar’s manager, Ali Abdel-Aziz, is having none of it. In a strongly worded response to McGregor’s comments, he’s claimed that McGregor has passed up multiple opportunities to fight his man - even comparing McGregor to a sex worker, external who "used to make high-dollar money" but then "got old".
“For three years, he did everything he can not to fight Frankie Edgar.”
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Edgar says he’s focused on Ortega for now, but has put out a firm statement on facing other opponents beyond that.
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'The Notorious’ is the UFC's biggest star, but has been away from the octagon for some time.
His last fight in the UFC was back in November 2016, when he defeated Eddie Alvarez to win the lightweight title which, added to his featherweight belt, made him the UFC's first ever two-division champion.
However, the 29-year-old has not defended his titles since then, entering the boxing ring instead to take on Floyd Mayweather last August.
Since that TKO loss to Mayweather, there’s been plenty of speculation over where he’ll go next. He has previously said that he doesn’t want to go into the WWE, like one of the UFC's other megastars, Ronda Rousey.
McGregor's hiatus has come at a cost: Holloway has his featherweight title, and McGregor is set to lose his grip on the lightweight belt, with UFC President Dana White confirming last month that Khabib Nurmagomedov and interim champ Tony Ferguson will fight for the undisputed lightweight title at UFC 223 on 7 April.
McGregor's comments this week, though, suggest that he’s definitely keen to come back.
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