5 potential surprises that could happen at UFC 229

#2: It could be the end of the road for McGregor

Might McGregor retire with a loss on Saturday?

Conor McGregor is coming into UFC 229 as an underdog for the first time in a while when it comes to his UFC career, but to most fans and analysts this does indeed look like his toughest ever challenge. Basically, he’s never fought a grappler the calibre of Nurmagomedov, and in the cold light of day, he only has one win – over Eddie Alvarez – at 155lbs.

So let’s say Conor does lose. Where would he go from there? Common sense would probably suggest he’d either attempt to drop back to 145lbs – a risk to be sure, but one that could pay off – or simply float around and fight “money fights” against foes like Nate Diaz, Georges St-Pierre or Anderson Silva.

One big surprise though would be if McGregor decides to hang up his gloves following the Nurmagomedov fight. Conor has recently signed a new six-fight deal with the UFC, but as we’ve seen previously with the Irishman, contracts don’t mean all that much – just look at how many times he’s renegotiated with the UFC as an example.

Everyone knows that McGregor loves money, and he’s always likely to make millions every time he steps into the cage – but he’s also a husband and a father and he has another child along the way. And he could certainly live comfortably with the money he’s made – and is about to make on Saturday – thus far.

So if he loses – or indeed, if he wins – would he really want to continue fighting, knowing that he’s already been to the top of the mountain? Perhaps not. But if he does decide to retire, it’d certainly be a major surprise – most of all to Dana White and the UFC’s powerbrokers who are banking on ‘The Notorious One’ to draw big money for them in the future.