Recently retired UFC veteran Matt Brown has always been sceptical that Conor McGregor would make a comeback after breaking his leg back in 2021, and after the superstar pulled out of his headlining fight with Michael Chandler at UFC 303 later this month he’s now more confident than ever that ‘The Notorious’ will never fight again in the UFC.
“I was never confident before that he would [come back],” Brown said on ‘The Fighter vs. The Writer’ podcast. “It didn’t shock me when I saw he was out of this fight. No, I’m still on that same train — he’s not ever coming back.
“I say the same thing I said before, I hope he proves me wrong. I hope I’m wrong. I would like to see Conor fight again. I would like to see him do a real training camp with real training partners, push himself hard, go back to the great Conor that he was before. I would love to see that. I think a lot of people would love to see that. It’s not happening.”
“I’ve said it many times — why would he come back?” Brown added later. “He built a large majority of his net worth outside of the UFC. He’s already built his brand in the UFC. He doesn’t have anything to prove coming back to the UFC. Of course, it makes for a great story and his brand magnifies even more if he comes back and wins another championship. I don’t see that happening, you don’t see that happening, no one really sees that happening.
“Of course, if Conor really wants it and really secludes himself in a tough training camp and brings in some tough guys, I don’t put it past him. But how motivated are you going to be do that when you’ve got $500 million in the bank?”
That being said, Brown isn’t completely ruling out the possibility that McGregor could one day end up in the boxing ring instead.
“It’s been three years. You shouldn’t have to recover from any injury for three years. I’m not convinced still that he’ll ever fight again with the UFC. Maybe he’ll do something else. If he does, I think it should be boxing. He’s not a bad boxer. He’s not going to compete with Floyd Mayweather ever, but he’s a decent boxer. He’s got some good matches out there, I think.”
