Conor McGregor at Croke Park in Dublin? Not any time soon, it seems

UFC featherweight champ Conor McGregor had a plan to knock out Jose Aldo and then do a stadium show in his native Dublin.

He accomplished the first task in short order. The second? Well, plans change.

“I don’t know,” McGregor said when asked this past week if he might fight in his home city. “I do crave my stadium fight in Dublin. But I just have to roll with the punches here.”

For a while, the UFC featherweight champ was obsessed with a headlining fight against Aldo at the 80,000-seat Croke Park in Dublin. At one point, UFC President Dana White even promised him the opportunity if he were able to beat Aldo.

But a month after putting the stamp on the now-former champion, McGregor (19-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) sounds like he’s grown accustomed to the rhythms of a Las Vegas fight week, to say nothing of its financial rewards.

“It’s an operation to set up a stadium show like that,” he said during a press conference in support of his pay-per-view headliner opposite lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos (25-7 MMA, 14-5 UFC) on March 5 at UFC 197 in Las Vegas, where he attempts to be the first UFC fighter to simultaneously hold belts in two divisions. “There are restrictions. There are limitations. They’ve pulled concerts from the venue previously. So it’s a risk to go in and do something like that when I’m just knocking ’em out so easily and smoothly. Just keep rolling, back to back to back.”

Other than national pride, there seems to be no reason for McGregor to slow his roll in the States. He broke records in Las Vegas with his previous two outings, an interim title win over Chad Mendes this past July at UFC 189 and then his 13-second knockout of Aldo at this past December’s UFC 194 event. The Irish champ’s numbers were bolstered by the overwhelming presence of his countrymen, who swarmed Sin City on fight week and Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena on fight night.

In March McGregor will keep his featherweight title and attempt to add a new one to his mantle, challenging lightweight champ dos Anjos at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena. If successful, it’s possible he could return to Vegas at 145 pounds to meet ex-lightweight champ and onetime featherweight title challenger Frankie Edgar at UFC 200, which takes place July 9 at the new T-Mobile Arena.

Irish fans will have to book a few trips across the pond to keep up with their hero. Although McGregor devotedly trains in his native country, it might be a while before he fights there.

“I will get back to Dublin,” he said. “We will do the show. But it takes time. This is a marathon, not a sprint. I look forward to one day having my home country lit up with a stadium show, but it is a work in process.”

Check out the full video above.

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