Conor McGregor’s Manager Says Former Champ’s “Appetite” to Fight Often Has Grown

Due to Conor McGregor’s enormous fame and wealth, there are certainly reasons to wonder whether we’ll see the star fight very much from here on. But, according to his manager, McGregor’s recent comments about keeping a busy fight schedule are on point.

McGregor’s much-discussed return to the Octagon

Ever since McGregor was submitted by rival and lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov last October there’s been endless talk about when the Irish fighter will compete again. McGregor has pushed for a rematch with Khabib, but Tony Ferguson, armed with a 12 fight winning streak, is expected to face the champ next.

McGregor also drove for a bout with Frankie Edgar, but the UFC passed, and the latter is set to fight rising bantamweight Cory Sandhagen on January 25th. More recently it’s been reported that Donald Cerrone is the front-runner to face McGregor next, and possibly on January 18th.

Recently McGregor’s manager, Audit Attar, spoke with Tom Taylor from the South China Morning Post. While discussing how talks are going for McGregor’s next bout, Attar said this:

“I would say that talks have been progressing,” Attar said. “We’ve met them, we’re in close communication with them. I would hope that an announcement could happen in the coming weeks, but at the end of the day, it’s still a work in progress.”

An active McGregor?

Not long ago, McGregor raised eyebrows throughout MMA, when he announced he plans to fight again in early 2020, and that he also wants to fight often. As noted above, because the 31-year-old has made a ton of money from fighting and has his own whiskey line, the consensus had been McGregor’s days of fighting, say, three times a year were over.

But, while talking about McGregor’s comments regarding this, Attar said this:

“When you look back to when he was winning fights, he was fighting often,” Attar said. “He wasn’t fighting once a year, he was fighting often, he was staying active.

“He never has to fight one fight more in his life,” Attar added. “At the end of the day, that’s the thing people forgot about him; he actually is a competitor. He dares to do things differently.”

“…I think that fighting once a year for the last couple of years, it’s almost like it’s grown his appetite to stay active. In any sport, the more reps you take, the better you get…”

Now, one could certainly argue that just because McGregor says he wants to fight often, doesn’t mean that will happen. After all, when you’re as big of a star as he is, coming to an agreement on an opponent, compensation for the bout, a date for the fight etc. isn’t always easy. But, even if McGregor fights twice in 2020, it will be a pretty big deal for the sport.