Conor McGregor finally revealed the date of his return to the octagon. The Notorious will have his comeback fight on January 18 in Las Vegas.
The former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion declared his return earlier today at a press conference held in Moscow. Wether is that a symbolic act which has to do something with his last opponent Khabib Nurmagomedov, we are not quite sure. Still, the fact that he revealed such big news in the capital of Russia does appear noticeable.
“This date is agreed. I don’t care who will be my opponent,” McGregor said, leaving the doors open for many new speculations.
The first information is suggesting that either Justin Gaethje or Donald Cerrone, but that is not official. McGregor stated that he eventually wants to fight the winner of the match between Khabib and Tony Ferguson, but that is not likely to happen. The Russian fighter already stated that the Irishman needs to prove himself worthy for a rematch and win several fights before comes knocking on his door.
The Notorious has big plans for 2020, as he aims to have three fights throughout that year. The first is already mentioned in January, then against the better from UFC 244 main event between Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal, and eventually, for the last fight, he left room for either Khabib or Ferguson.
He also added that a possible fight against Nurmagomedov needs to take place in Moscow because he thinks that the Russian state deserves such a spectacle.
“That is the bout we want,” McGregor said. “We want this bout in Moscow. The people of Russia deserve this bout to take place. The people of the world deserve this bout to take place.”
The former champ and one of the biggest stars in the UFC organization believe that he can reach his top shape until January, and is confident that whoever is selected to be his opponent, won’t have a chance against him.
“It takes 66 days to form a habit. Now I go to bed early and get up early,” he continued. “A structured approach is the key to success. All billionaires must be organized.”
McGregor had an intention to come back even earlier, but he couldn’t get the match planned for December 14. According to Ariel Helwani, one of the best MMA experts and journalists, the date in January was the compromise of all sides.
“McGregor pushed for 12/14 versus Edgar, but those talks never went anywhere because the UFC really didn’t want that fight. They actually weren’t even scheduled to have a PPV in January, but once it became clear McGregor was ready to return, they came up with this 1/18 date,” Helwani wrote on his Twitter account.
McGregor pushed for 12/14 versus Edgar but those talks never went anywhere because the UFC really didn’t want that fight. They actually weren’t even scheduled to have a PPV in January but once it became clear McGregor was ready to return they came up with this 1/18 date.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 24, 2019
The last time he fought, Conor was defeated by Khabib at the already legendary UFC 229. Since then, he didn’t enter the ring, and was mostly in the focus of the media because of his law troubles. Recently, another woman accused McGregor of sexual assault. He allegedly tried to rape her in a car outside Dublin, and right now, the local police are still investigating the whole case.
The Notorious was already accused once for the same thing. In the meantime, the fighter reached headlines for punching an older man in the pub in Dublin, and for smashing a mobile phone of one fan who tried to record him in Miami.
Many believe that this comeback is just a way to earn more money, as McGregor proved to be a magnet for cash. His fighting skills have been stagnating for quite some time, and since 2016 and the fight against Eddie Alvarez once he became the first UFC champion in two weight classes, he didn’t feel the taste of victory.
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Nikola Velickovic is a sports journalist who loves to write and read on all sports. Nikola contributes both news updates and functions as a sports breaking news writer at WagerBop.
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