Cormier Hopes McGregor Can Come Back – ‘It’s Kind Of Sad’
Daniel Cormier hopes that Conor McGregor’s UFC career can finish on a more positive light.
McGregor’s UFC career has taken a big decline, as he has been absent from the Octagon since 2021. He suffered the third defeat out of his previous four fights at UFC 264 against Dustin Poirier. To add insult to injury, he broke his leg, which has kept him out ever since. He was scheduled to fight Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in a fight that had been building up since their days as rival coaches on the TUF 31 series.
However, the fight never happened after McGregor was forced to withdraw from the bout due to a broken toe. He was subsequently linked with a fight against Dan Hooker, but that never emerged.
McGregor also found himself in a legal battle, as he was accused of sexual assault by Nikita Hand. She filed a civil lawsuit, which she won, meaning McGregor was liable for damages and her legal costs. While McGregor has maintained his innocence, his reputation has suffered dramatically.
McGregor has spoken about his desire to fight in BKFC and even have another boxing bout. But that all depends on the status of his UFC contract, where he currently has two fights remaining. That has prevented McGregor from keeping himself active, as questions remain over whether he would return to the UFC.
He has won belts in two classes, featherweight and lightweight, making him one of the sport’s best fighters. But fighters can only live off their past glory for so long. Cormier recognized that McGregor was no longer the same fighter, but he hoped that McGregor would give fans something else to remember before he retires.
Cormier On McGregor
“For me, it’s kind of sad because of this: It’s like, when a guy comes, and he’s that successful, and he’s that good, you hope that the last time you see him in the octagon is him fighting – even if it’s him losing. You don’t want the last memory is him sitting in the octagon with a broken leg, yelling at Dustin Poirier’s wife. It was the craziest vision I’ve ever seen.
“It felt like when he got here, everything was fresh, new, and it felt genuine. Then he went to nice Conor when him and Dustin fought in Abu Dhabi. Nice Conor was more preposterous than him doing what he did after the fight with Dustin the (third) time. Because he was holding Dustin’s liquor, they were hugging each other.
“It was the most odd thing I’d ever seen because that was not what we had come to expect from Conor McGregor. He gets beat by Dustin Poirier, then he goes all the way back to the other guy, but even more to the right. [And] was more loud, he was more obnoxious, he was nasty, talking about Dustin’s wife and all these things.
“He was more nasty, so even that felt forced. Then when he broke his leg, he was sitting on the ground yelling and screaming. It was almost like he was a rich guy who didn’t get his way, and there is nothing he could do about it, and he was acting out because of it. That’s like a sad visual for me after all that he became to the sport of mixed martial arts,” Cormier said
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