After all of Dana White’s talk about Conor McGregor’s scheduled break from the UFC, it would seem that he didn’t consult ‘The Notorious’ before he announced the expected time-frame.
The UFC president revealed that the reigning UFC lightweight champion would be away from the Octagon for 10 months so that he could be with his girlfriend for the birth of the couple’s firstborn and enjoy the early months of fatherhood without worrying about a fight camp.
“Conor’s taking another 10 months for paternity,” White recently said on the UFC Unfiltered podcast.
That hiatus would take McGregor out of action until August but, apparently, he never mentioned anything about the length of the break he hoped to take.
“As far as a break, I don’t know,” McGregor told RTÉ as he accepted an award for Sports Person of the Year.
Conor McGregor talks to Clare McNamara after a year which he call the 'culmination of his life's work'. https://t.co/0AY8QPqGyu
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) December 17, 2016
“I know Dana has been on record, being like, ’10 months — he’s taking 10 months off.’ Where did I say 10 months?”
During the interview, it sounded like McGregor may be open to offers of an earlier return and suggested that he is keen on talking about just that with the new UFC owners.
The organisation was taken over by WME-IMG in the summer and many fighters have complained that Ari Emanuel lacked the hands-on approach of former CEO Lorenzo Fertitta.
McGregor wants to discuss the plans of the new ownership group, and presumably open the conversation about potentially receiving a stake in the company, something he was very keen on following his most recent victory at UFC 205.
“I just don’t know,” McGregor said. “I’m weighing up my options. But again, I expect that conversation. I expect them to fly that jet to me. Ari, Patrick, the new owners from WME-IMG, the guys that bought the UFC for $4 billion, I want to speak to them.
“I want to see what their plan is. Because right now I don’t know what nobody’s plan is.”
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