The ‘Notorious’ Conor Mcgregor made an appearance on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Hour on March 15, the former two-division UFC champion discussed his return to the octagon, amongst other plans he has for the year.
McGregor has been absent from the sport for over two years since his TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in 2021. He makes his much-anticipated return this year against Michael Chandler, at an event which is still yet to be confirmed.
Conor McGregor Plans To Fight Twice in 2023
Helwani probed Mcgregor about potential free agency after his contract ended, to which McGregor replied, “I’ve got two fights left on my contract, and, you know, I hope we can continue. I want to be in the UFC….my highlight reel is in the UFC!”
“Any chance you fight twice this year?” Helwani asks.
“Yeah, for sure.” McGregor promptly replies, “Yeah, I can see it moving pretty fast when it moves, gearing up there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes and all, but I feel it will move fast, there’s no issue why it wouldn’t move fast. So I assume late summer, maybe a little bit later, depending. I would like that. And then, of course, that’s still half the year left.
I wish for consistency, I’m working for consistency. Like I’ve said before, I’ve had this on-and-off thing going on for a couple of years and It’s been frustrating, be it for different reasons. but I’d like to just get passed that and get into this consistency. I feel like I can and I’m excited for it.”
Conor McGregor on His Motivation Whilst Injured
Helwani continued, “The reason I asked that is, I can imagine for those two and a half years that you were out and seeing all these events and all these fights, knowing the competitor that you are, must have kind of [driven] you nuts a little bit, right? Like you want to be out there, you want to fight two, three times, right? And we can see you’re Tweeting and stuff, you’re engaged, I can almost feel [you’re itching to get back in there], It’s gotta be tough.”
Mcgregor replied, “For sure, it is tough. But you know, when you get yourself in such a great spot physically and mentally, and in incredible condition and something happens, it’s tough. But tough times make good times, so I took It on the chin, I stayed focused, I stayed on my work, and now I’m back. I’m ready to go.”
“What is the motivation? Because, as you know, in the fight game, you reach that point; satin sheets, it’s hard to wake up!” Helwani refers to Marvin Hagler’s famous quote: ‘It’s tough to get out of bed to do roadwork at 5 am when you’ve been sleeping in silk pyjamas.’
McGregor quickly interjects, “I’ve got the satin sheets; I’ve got the silk sheets; I’ve got the f****** Egyptian cotton duvets, pillows. I’ve got everything,” Helwani interrupts him, “So why wake up at 5 am?” McGregor doesn’t skip a beat, “competition, man! Competition, it’s the best buzz ever, why would you not want to do it? How would you not want to make this walk and experience this whole thing, you know? It’s highly addictive, and I’m highly addicted. So that’s it.”