UFC must find way to make Conor McGregor reverse retirement decision, warns Daniel Cormier
THE UFC must find a way to make Conor McGregor reverse his latest retirement, insists Daniel Cormier. The heavyweight, who is also a key part of the organisation’s broadcasting team, believes the company will suffer without the Notorious. McGregor made a shock announcement on Sunday that he was retiring from UFC, the third time in […]
THE UFC must find a way to make Conor McGregor reverse his latest retirement, insists Daniel Cormier.
The heavyweight, who is also a key part of the organisation’s broadcasting team, believes the company will suffer without the Notorious.
McGregor made a shock announcement on Sunday that he was retiring from UFC, the third time in four years he had threatened to quit MMA.
The Irishman later explained he was upset about potential opponents awaiting him and claimed that nothing in the sport excites him anymore.
But speaking on the DC and Helwani show, Cormier said: “Everything’s just bigger when he competes. And the whole aspect of that is gone when he fights in front of no fans.
“So I get why there’s a little hesitancy there. But it’s not worth risking losing him for the long term because you can’t make him happy right now.
“You gotta figure it out, you gotta make it happen. Again it’s not worth the penalty if he walks away. It’s not worth it, you gotta make it work for him.”
UFC president Dana White revealed that McGregor snubbed a short-notice fight at UFC 249 as he is not “a replacement fighter”.
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The former two-division king says he wanted a showdown with Justin Gaethje after he beat Tony Ferguson to become interim lightweight champion last month.
But the Highlight will now instead move on to face Khabib Nurmagomedov later this year for the title, with White stating the McGregor’s best option was to face the winner.
And despite comfortably being UFC’s biggest name and PPV star, White is adamant the 31-year-old is not getting what he wants this time.