Conor McGregor is undoubtedly the biggest name in MMA today. The current UFC Featherweight Champion, who beat Nate Diaz at UFC 202 is a proven box office sensation. UFC 196 broke various PPV records, and in the process, Conor McGregor became the first MMA fighter to have received a disclosed payout of over one million dollars!
Conor McGregor reportedly asked the UFC for a guaranteed payout of 10 million dollars for UFC 200, which didn’t play out as he would’ve expected. Instead, UFC brought in former UFC Heavyweight Champion, and current WWE superstar Brock Lesnar to headline the PPV. It was later revealed that Lesnar failed two drug tests, and neither UFC nor WWE were going to do anything about it.
Recently, McGregor took exception to Lesnar’s situation and verbally tore into the “Beast Incarnate” and the other WWE superstars. While the wrestling fans and those involved in the business slammed Conor for his remarks, there was a small section who thought, “Wait, could this be a work?”
Today, we take a look at why Conor McGregor’s remarks about the WWE superstars could’ve been a work, and if the Irish superstar is WWE bound.
Conor’s “retirement angle” covered by WWE
In the months leading up to UFC 200, Dana White kept saying that he was still talking to one major name that could return for the PPV. While many thought it would be the former UFC Welterweight kingpin GSP, no one was sure whom Dana White was talking about. However, with Conor McGregor refusing to show up for the promotional tour, Dana White kicked Conor off the UFC 200 card.
This resulted in Conor McGregor announcing his “retirement” on Twitter, which also became the most popular tweet by an athlete this year! Dana White proceeded to bring in Brock Lesnar, while WWE poured gasoline over the flames, asking the fans if they wanted to see Conor McGregor in WWE!
It was later revealed that the UFC and Lesnar were talking for months, and in the end, UFC decided to book Lesnar on the UFC 200 card.
John Kavanagh has fun with the UFC and WWE fans
With WWE openly talking about Conor McGregor showing up on WWE TV, Conor’s coach, John Kavanagh couldn’t resist himself from joining in on the fun. Kavanagh took to Instagram, and posted a photo of “Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart, while saying that he might have a new job on the horizon.
While the MMA fans didn’t completely buy into the retirement talk, there was a serious discussion about Conor McGregor doing what the likes of Ken Shamrock and Lesnar did, by going to WWE. In the end, however, Conor ended the speculation by saying he wanted to fight Nate Diaz.
However, the biggest reason which led the people to believe that Conor would eventually show up on WWE programming came after UFC 200.
Brock Lesnar swap deal
It was later revealed that the UFC and WWE agreed to cross promote their product, with WWE allowing Lesnar to fight at UFC 200, while the UFC would send one of their top stars to get involved in some capacity. It was then reported that UFC Strawweight, Paige VanZant was approached to appear during SummerSlam; however, Paige turned down the offer and said she wanted to concentrate on her MMA career.
This led to people speculating about WWE going after the biggest draw in the world of MMA today – Conor McGregor. However, with Conor focusing on his training for his fight with Nate, there wasn’t much attention given to the reports – that was until Conor McGregor took part in the UFC 202 media conference call earlier this month.
Conor taking shots at WWE superstars and quoting Steve Austin
When asked about his thoughts regarding Lesnar failing his drug test, Conor ripped into Lesnar and the WWE superstars, calling them pansies. Conor’s venomous words led to the WWE superstars responding in kind, with most of them calling Conor out.
What stood out during the exchange was Conor’s ire directed towards the locker room, and John Cena in particular. Conor also sent out a tweet, knocking the WWE stars, in which Conor also quoted Steve Austin, which could be the biggest indication yet about Conor getting involved in WWE storylines in the not so distant future.
WWE responding by asking if Conor is WWE bound
With Conor taking shots at WWE superstars, WWE once again began asking the fans if they believed the UFC Featherweight Champion was WWE bound. While WWE has, up until this point separated itself from UFC – even going as far as to not mentioning the promotion on WWE programming until Lesnar returned, their interest in milking the Conor McGregor to WWE story seems to be gaining momentum.
Conor McGregor said he wasn’t looking past Nate Diaz, and there is a good chance that Conor would take some time off after UFC 202. One can expect Conor to show up on WWE TV as a part of the Brock Lesnar swap deal, and teach the WWE superstars a thing or two about cutting promos!
