Conor McGregor har nu en förklaring till varför han inte har gått någon match sen oktober 2018, då han mötte och förlorade mot Khabib Nurmagomedov på UFC 229; det största MMA-eventet i historien.
Under tisdagens mediaevent nämnde irländaren vilka svårigheter det har varit att få en match inbokad då han påstod ha föreslagit flertalet datum och motståndare för UFC, men utan lycka. På grund av detta hoppas nu den 31-årige irländaren få ihop en ”välgörenhetsmatch” i december månad i sitt hemland, Irland.
Funny enough, I just want to compete now, I was trying to get the Dec. 14th card, for whatever reason they’ve been holding me back. I’m giving them dates, I’m saying I want to fight this date, this date, this date, this date in a row, and we had opponents selected and everything and they’re just making it very difficult for me for whatever reason.
So now I’m kind of in a position where I’m attempting to set up a charity event. I’ve done this before in my hometown but I done it in an amateur boxing event at my old boxing club, Crumlin Boxing Club, but I want to do it in mixed martial arts competition also. Create an event, find an opponent, compete, zero prize. I do not care about the prize. The prize is in my home. I have five prizes in my home that I seek to get, I’ve got them. I just want to compete now, I want to come back, I want to get sharp, I want to show the best of myself and continue to climb. So that’s what I am seeking to do. So we are looking to do that sometime in December, hopefully have a charity mixed martial arts event for zero prize. The prize will go to charity, so that’s what we are aiming for.
McGregor har tidigare uttryckt sig vilja möta Frankie Edgar, helt utan lön. Dana White var dock snabb på att meddela att det inte kommer att ske.
I even offered for the Frankie Edgar bout to donate my purse to charity, Because they were saying we won’t make enough money on the Frankie fight and I was like, I don’t care, don’t worry about me, give my purse to charity.
But for whatever reason it’s being made difficult. Like I said, we’re almost there. It’s never easy with this crowd.
”Now the politics of [prize-fighting]”
Efter att ha fått frågan om hur många matcher McGregor har kvar i sin karriär var den politiken inom sporten svar på varför han varit inaktiv.
For me, I am looking at—I used to fight every couple of weeks before the UFC came, then it was every couple of months, Now the politics of [prize-fighting] got involved and it’s almost if I won and then I go off. I do not like that, you can’t be like that in this game. I must continue, consistency is another word, you must be consistent.
Once we get the first one going and we get past the politics of this, I will continue to go. I’ve faced very little damage inside the Octagon so I’m eager to get going and continue. If I look at the run I had up to Eddie Alvarez when I won the second world title, it was consecutive bouts. Bout, bout, bout, so I went into that Eddie Alvarez fight sharp, aware, fully prepared. And what happened that night, one of the greatest performances in any title fight ever in the UFC. So that’s what we are looking to continue on in the next time. Again, analyze what went wrong in the past, analyze what went right in the past, use it to go forward to the future.
Det finns i dagsläget inget fastställt datum för varken en eventuell ”välgörenhetsmatch” eller när han återkommer till UFC. Man kan däremot vänta sig en uppdatering kring detta inom kort.
We’re very, very close to announcing it, Not just yet, but surely over the course of this trip we should have an announcement, so that’s what we were aiming for.
