Mailbag: Is Conor McGregor ever going to fight again after the UFC 329 fiasco?

Conor McGregor finally made his comeback, and it lasted for just over a minute.

At UFC 329, McGregor blew his knee out in the opening moments against Max Holloway, raising questions about his fighting future. So, let’s discuss that and whatever else y’all want to talk about.

Conor McGregor

Have we seen the last of Conor McGregor in the UFC and what’s next for him ?

Nope. He’s got one more in him.

Over the weekend, McGregor revealed that he tore his ACL and meniscus, meaning he’s out for at least nine months. He’s already targeting a summer return, and I think that’s the most likely scenario, because McGregor wants out.

I’ve been saying for months that what McGregor is trying to do is get out of his UFC contract. I’m not some sort of seer; it’s just obvious. Inside the UFC, McGregor has limited autonomy and doesn’t make that much money, at least not compared to what he makes outside of it.

At the minimum, McGregor has a lucrative boxing match with Jake Paul and a trilogy fight with Nate Diaz waiting for him outside of the UFC. I’m just spitballing here, but Netflix probably pays him close to $100 million for each of those. Add in possible boxing matchups with Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao, and even Mike Tyson, and McGregor has the potential to make close to a half billion dollars outside of the UFC. And that’s not even throwing in a possible Mike Perry fight, or other oddball matchups that could materialize.

Right now, you might be shaking your head and saying, “That’s absurd,” but I promise you it is not. Coming off a five-year layoff and mostly looking bad for a decade, McGregor still drew enormous viewership for the UFC and had monster ticket sales. Netflix will pay the man, and once he’s running on his own, he also gets a piece of the gate.

There is an enormous amount of money waiting for McGregor outside of the UFC. He just needs one more fight to get there. I would bet almost anything that he fights next summer.

More Conor

In the build up to the fight, Conor claimed Max wouldn’t land a glove on him and that he would finish Max within seconds. Was that opening move Conor’s desperate attempt to bring back “Mystic Mac”?

Also, which outcome would have been worse for McGregor’s brand: the one that happened or absolute domination by Max with a later rounds KO/TKO?

I don’t think the jumping switch kick was some desperate attempt to reclaim lost glory; I think it was just a little bit stupid, and done by a guy who hadn’t fought in five years. Honestly, it’s not the worst way to shake some early nerves … unless you break yourself.

As for whether or not this was a better outcome for him, I think the answer is unequivocally yes. Don’t get me wrong, even if Max had come out and beaten McGregor pillar to post, Conor’s fans would’ve written the whole thing off (with some valid excuses, to be fair). But by having the fight end before it even began, McGregor has pretty solid cover for his next fight. Sure, some people will look at Conor as damaged goods with a body that no longer works, but those same people would also write him off if he got stomped by Max — and so would many, many more.

The only reason the injury is worse for McGregor is that it means he won’t be able to fight until the summer. But since the UFC wanted him for April anyway, that’s only delaying his release by a few months, so it’s not that big a deal.

In the grand scheme of things, this was probably a good outcome for McGregor, assuming you believe Holloway was going to roast him.

Paddy Pimblett and Gable Steveson

Am I crazy for not being impressed by either Steveson or Pimblett this weekend?

Gable? No. Paddy, yes.

Gable Steveson, personal problems aside, is extremely likely to be very good, and probably even a champion. But thus far in his MMA career, all he’s really shown is that he’s a supreme athlete. Rolling over Elisha Ellision is not an impressive accomplishment for a man of his pedigree, and honestly, the way he did it raises some concerns over his development.

Steveson fights like a man who does not know fear, and at heavyweight, that’s dangerous. Ellison can’t really make you pay, but better heavyweights can. At some point, Steveson will need a mystical thing called “defense,” or he’ll never hit his potential. But he’s young, so that probably will come.

As for Pimblett, if you weren’t impressed by that, you’re probably just a hater. Nothing wrong with that, but at some point, you’ve got to give the man his flowers. Sure, Benoit Saint Denis did the most obvious, bozo thing possible, but Paddy still cooked him for it instantly. He’s a student of the game, and he’s getting better. Man is a legit top lightweight.

Robert Whittaker

Which fight answered more questions about where they stand, Gable Steveson’s debut or Robert Whitaker’s win at LHW?

Since we already discussed Steveson, let’s pivot to Whittaker. Bobby Knuckles beat up Nikita Krylov, but I’ll be honest, I did not leave that fight feeling inspired about his future at 205.

Whittaker definitely looked small for the weight class, and while he finished a Top 15 light heavyweight, we can also be honest about what that means. Krylov was never a top top guy, and he seemed like he was declining even before this fight. Whittaker is a great fighter, and so that’s good enough to beat a faded guy in a worse division, but I don’t know how much more you can expect from him.

Granted, light heavyweight is rancid, so Whittaker can certainly have some success up at this weight, but the problems for Whittaker at 185 had nothing to do with out-growing the division. He’s old and has a lot of miles on him. Moving to a worse weight class can mask some of those problems, but they don’t fix the issue. I don’t expect a title run at 205.

Moving on up

Recently there has been a wave of fighters moving up in weight class instead of down. Who do you think is a bump up in weight away from a real run at a belt? You can’t say Khazmat since he has already announced his intentions whether he fights Strickland next or not.

I wouldn’t say Khamzat anyway, because I don’t think he is. Not that it’s impossible, but Chimaev’s weaknesses have been revealed at this point, and I think he would struggle against the top tier of 205ers right now.

Reinier de Ridder is probably my real answer, but since he already announced his move back to 205, and previously fought at light heavyweight, that’s a cheap answer, so I won’t go with it.

But honestly, there aren’t a lot of fighters that stand out to me right now, at least not for making a title run. Maybe Kyoji Horiguchi? The man has had plenty of success at bantamweight before, and he’s well out of the mix at 125 pounds right now. Let The Gooch go back to 135 pounds and see what happens.

Thanks for reading, and thank you to everyone who sent in questions! Do you have any burning questions about things at least somewhat related to combat sports? Then you’re in luck, because every week I put a prompt into The Feed for your questions. Fire them into there, and I’ll answer the best ones in the Mailbag, and try to get to the rest in the responses.