Win, lose or draw on Aug. 26, UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor will walk away from his fight with Floyd Mayweather a very wealthy man.
Of course, McGregor isn’t exactly hurting for money right now after a record breaking 2016 where he ended up at No. 24 on the Forbes richest athletes list but the 28-year old Irishman could double or even triple his net worth with one fight this year.
McGregor is rumored to make north of $100 million for his fight with Mayweather, which then begs the question — would he then be willing to return to the UFC where he would fight for a far smaller percentage of that same purse?
According to McGregor, there’s no doubt in his mind that he will come back to the UFC after his fight with Mayweather, especially considering how much he prefers the rule set in mixed martial arts as compared to boxing.
“Look, I love a true fight,” McGregor said on Tuesday in Los Angeles. “Elbows, knees, shin bone, you ever bounce a shin bone off a nose bone? You ever dug an elbow into the temple? It’s an unusual feeling. It’s an unusual feeling when the elbow bone digs into the temple. It’s a nasty little one. It’s something I enjoy. It’s something I love to do.
“So I look forward to going back to MMA and have a true fight after this.”
Obviously, McGregor will have a slew of opponents anxiously awaiting his return to action considering he’s the current champion at 155-pounds not to mention the biggest draw in the history of the UFC.
Contenders such as Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov has been champing at the bit to get a fight the current lightweight champion but McGregor seemed to hint at another matchup that could net him a much bigger payday.
“Maybe rematches and all will be in there. We’ll see,” McGregor said. “I’m not forgetting my mixed martial arts training. I always focus on my kicking game, I always focus on my grappling, I always focus on my wrestling. On occasion, I do a little bit of boxing.”
McGregor mentioning rematches could be his way of angling towards a third fight with Nate Diaz, who has provided him with the most lucrative bouts of his UFC career thus far.
There doesn’t seem to be anyone else on McGregor’s resume that would generate the same kind of interest for a rematch outside of Diaz.
Regardless whether Diaz ends up as his opponent or not, McGregor seems set on returning to the UFC after he finishes his super fight with Mayweather at the end of the summer.
