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Conor McGregor last fought Donald Cerrone in the main event of UFC 246. The former UFC Lightweight Champion put up a spectacular performance by finishing Cerrone in 40 seconds and as per Dana White, Conor McGregor was next in line for the title shot after UFC 249.
However, an unexpected turn of events led to an interim title fight between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje, instead of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson. Gaethje beat Ferguson to become the interim champion and is next in line for a title shot against 'The Eagle'. That left Conor Mcgregor without an opponent for a meaningful period.
Dana White has confirmed multiple times that McGregor will fight the winner of Justin Gaethje and Khabib Nurmagomedov. However, due to a lack of intriguing fights, the Irishman decided to retire from the sport. Now, this is not the first time, Conor McGregor has announced his retirement from the fight game.
'The Notorious One' has played the retirement card quite a few times to gain some leverage in negotiations with UFC. However, this time McGregor's reason was the UFC being unable to offer him an exciting fight.
What is next for Conor McGregor?
The majority of fans believe that Conor McGregor will make his return sooner or later. However, will he come out of retirement if he does not get the rematch against Khabib Nurmagomedov?
Ali Abdelaziz recently claimed that Nurmagomedov will retire from the sport after two more fights and one of those fights is against Gaethje at UFC 254. If Khabib Nurmagomedov wins the fight against Justin Gaethje and asks for the mega-fight with Georges St Pierre then it would be hard for UFC to deny him that.
Even Dana White said on ESPN that if Nurmagomedov wants GSP on his retirement fight then he will entertain that option. If 'The Eagle' fights GSP and then retires from the sport, will Conor McGregor come out of retirement to fight the likes of Justin Gaethje, Tony Ferguson, or Dustin Poirier?
Conor McGregor has achieved some incredible things in the world of combat sport. Financially, he does not need to fight anymore. However, the rematch against Khabib Nurmagomedov excites him because of the way the first fight played out. McGregor believes that at his best he can beat 'The Eagle'.
However, it's a huge possibility that Conor McGregor fights Floyd Mayweather in a rematch. Recently, Floyd Mayweather stated that he would be interested to take on McGregor in a boxing fight.
Besides that, Conor McGregor recently teased a mega-fight with boxing legend, Manny Pacquiao. And this fight can happen considering both McGregor and Pacquiao are managed by Paradigm Sports Management. This fight is going to be as big as McGregor vs Mayweather, if not bigger. McGregor had already said ahead of UFC 246 that there have been talks about this fight and it's hard to imagine the former UFC Champ-Champ turning down a fight against Pacquiao if the opportunity presents.
Dana White has claimed that Conor McGregor is not fighting again in 2020 and he keeps on insisting that the Irishman is retired. So will McGregor consider fighting in UFC if he never gets to avenge his only loss at the lightweight division? Or he will jump over to the boxing world to fight Floyd Mayweather again or even Manny Pacquiao?
