Former two-division UFC champion from Ireland, Conor McGregor hasn’t fought inside the Octagon in over a year and although previously he expressed interest in fighting later in December, it’s usually always speculations.
But now McGregor has given more descriptive details of the timeline as to when he will be fighting next. In a press conference in Moscow organised by Parimatch, which is a Russian online betting company, the Irishmen announced that he will be returning back to action on January 18, 2020.
Although he didn’t name any opponents, according to Ariel Helwani of ESPN, there are two fighters who are currently the frontrunner to fight McGregor and they’re Justin Gaethje and Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone, with the latter being the favourite.
https://twitter.com/arielhelwani/status/1187323667304325120?s=20
Conor McGregor announces at a press conference in Moscow this AM that he has agreed to return to action on Jan. 18 in. T-Mobile. He did not name the opponent. Fight isn’t signed. Two leading candidates are Cerrone and Gaethje. Cerrone is the frontrunner at this time, I’m told.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 24, 2019
Helwani also said that McGregor was pushing for a fight against Frankie Edgar at UFC 245 in Las Vegas, but the UFC didn’t want to do it at that date. UFC 245 card is already stacked with three title fights on the line. When it became visibly clear that McGregor wanted to return, UFC came up with January 18 date despite the promotion not planning to have any PPV bout that month.
McGregor pushed for 12/14 versus Edgar but those talks never went anywhere because the UFC really didn’t want that fight. They actually weren’t even scheduled to have a PPV in January but once it became clear McGregor was ready to return they came up with this 1/18 date.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 24, 2019
McGregor wanted to return on 12/14 but that didn’t make financial sense since they already had the 3 title fights booked for that card. McGregor is looking at 2020 as “a season.” He wants 3 fights next year: 1/18, winner of Masvidal/Diaz and then the winner of Khabib/Ferguson.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 24, 2019
And if Khabib wins versus Ferguson, he really wants the rematch in Moscow, I’m told.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 24, 2019
Helwani also mentioned that Conor McGregor wants the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson. If Khabib were to win his fight against Ferguson, the Irishmen made it clear that he wants to have the rematch in Moscow. McGregor wants to fight three-times in 2020 and he also wants to fight the winner of Nate Diaz vs Jorge Masvidal. The duos are scheduled to fight at UFC 244 in Madison Square Garden, New York.
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