Over the past three years, Conor McGregor has risen from a cocky but unknown Irish prospect in the UFC to the promotion’s biggest star. Now that he’s at the absolute pinnacle of the sport, he’s made it clear the UFC will have to change the way it’s used to paying its stars to coax him back into the Octagon. And if they’re not willing to negotiate with him? He’s more than willing to pursue other, more lucrative endeavors.
“I can go out now and maybe conquer the boxing scene as well,” he told Irish sports channel RTE in an interview celebrating his win as Irish Sportsperson of the Year. “That’s a very serious thought. That’s a very serious conversation that’s happening. I’ve got those wrestling guys trying to contact me as well. I’ve got Hollywood trying to contact me as well. I’ve got so many options.”
When asked about a fight with Floyd Mayweather, McGregor made it sound like Mayweather wasn’t the only opponent being considered for a possible boxing run.
Conor McGregor talks to Clare McNamara after a year which he call the 'culmination of his life's work'. https://t.co/0AY8QPqGyu
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) December 17, 2016
“We’ll see what happens. His last pay-per-view was 350,000 buys, it was a flop. The fight was a dud. His last two fights have been duds,” McGregor said. “So I certainly don’t need him. I could pick some local shmuck and still do big numbers. So that’s where I’m at. Of course the Floyd fight is the fight people want to see. It’s the fight that we all want to happen. But we’ll see. These things take time.”
Something else that apparently takes time? Getting the new UFC owners to sit down with him.
“I want to speak to them. I want to see what their plan is,” McGregor said. “Because right now I don’t know what anyone’s plan is. All I know is they’re trying to type onto a keyboard and say ‘We’re taking this belt and we’re taking that belt and we’re doing that. You ain’t doing nothing without contacting me first.”
With McGregor looking to get busy again after the holidays, it might be in the UFC’s interest to sit down and seriously talk with him before he starts making plans of his own … plans that don’t involve the UFC at all.
