It has been almost a year since Conor McGregor has fought on the octagon and speculations are rife about him never returning to Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The Dubliner (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) last fought Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 to win the lightweight championship in November 2016.
McGregor was slated to fight Tony Ferguson at UFC 219 on December 30. However, the bout was cancelled by the UFC after he physically confronted a referee at Bellator 187 mixed martial arts (MMA) event earlier this month in Dublin.
As it turns out, UFC president Dana White is not sure about McGregor's return to the octagon, especially after "The Notorious" enjoyed a huge payday during his blockbuster boxing match against Floyd Mayweather in August.
McGregor lost the bout after lasting 10 rounds against the American boxing great, who came out of retirement for the superfight, but the Irishman reportedly earned close to $100 million.
"Conor might never fight again. The guy's got $100 (expletive) million. I've got guys that made less than that and were lawyers and went to school their whole life and quit working," White told reporters earlier this week, as quoted by MMA Junkie.
He added: "Fighting's the worst. Try to get up and get punched in the face every day when you've got $100 million in the bank. Money changes everything with a lot of people."
McGregor's demand and White's reply
White also said it is not possible for McGregor to get a ownership stake at UFC. Notably, the UFC star had revealed he would not return to UFC until he gets a share of the MMA promotion's ownership, highlighting how he had been a co-promoter of his superfight against Mayweather.
Meanwhile, Mcgregor is also rumoured to enter the world of World Wrestling Entertainment in the future. The Dubliner reportedly is set to make his debut at Wrestlemania 34 in 2018 and that he has already entered negotiations with the promoters.
However, it remains to be seen if McGregor will make the move as switching from combat sport to entertainment sport doesn't look an ideal move for the MMA star.