For the next two months all anyone is going to be talking about is Conor McGregor’s upcoming boxing match with Floyd Mayweather Jr on August 26th in Las Vegas, but in the wake of one of the biggest fights in combat sports history, Dana White believes that ‘The Notorious’ will return to the UFC to defend his lightweight title.
“I’m pretty confident (about McGregor’s UFC return),” White told FOX Sports. “In the conversation that I had with him, he’s fired up for this fight and he’s excited to fight again and defend his title by the end of the year. Nothing is a guarantee. You can’t be guaranteed anybody’s ever going to fight again.”
It’ll be interesting to see if that does transpire. Perhaps McGregor truly does believe that he will do so, but the question is whether he will feel differently after being a part of this once-in-a-lifetime fight with Mayweather and picking up a cheque that’s expected to be approaching, or even surpassing $100 million.
At that stage will he really want to return to the Octagon for less of a financial incentive to face a tough opponent without anything like the same star power or fanfare, such as Khabib Nurmagomedov or Tony Ferguson?
Nobody knows for sure, but based on his dealings with ‘The Notorious’, White is remaining optimistic.
“If I had to tell you right here, right now, do I think Conor’s coming back this year? I absolutely do.”
