Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight champ, Sean O’Malley, has been thinking. He’s been pondering why Conor McGregor’s been absent from the ring. O’Malley’s theory? It could be down to money issues.
McGregor, the former two-division champ, has been out of action since July 2021. He broke his leg in a trilogy match against Dustin Poirier. It was a brutal injury, and he’s been on the sidelines since.
McGregor recently made a comeback to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA) testing pool. But “Notorious” is yet to be booked for his return to the Octagon. He’s not happy about it, either.
On Saturday, McGregor expressed his frustration with the delay in his return. He even teased a shift to boxing. Is he serious? Who knows.
O’Malley, on his podcast “TimboSugarShow” on Monday, pondered whether another McGregor fight makes financial sense for the UFC. He suggested the kind of deal they might have with the Irishman, Forbes’ highest-earning athlete in 2021, could be restrictive or detrimental for the UFC.
“Conor is supposedly just begging for a fight,” O’Malley said. “‘Give me a fight. Let me fight, daddy.’ Conor says his patience is wearing thin over UFC inactivity. I wonder if he’s making so much money per fight that it’s really just not that beneficial to the UFC, like they’re losing money when he fights. I wonder if his deal is structured in a way where it’s like, ‘f*ck.'”
McGregor starred opposite Michael Chandler as rival coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show earlier this year. There was an expected matchup in the future. But the Irishman has since called out multiple other opponents. On an appearance at “Steve-O’s Wild Ride! Podcast,” Chandler stated that the former double champ might try to “wait him out” in an attempt to draw an “easier” opponent like Nate Diaz.
Meanwhile, O’Malley’s star power has also recently come into question. The bantamweight champ’s last opponent, Aljamain Sterling, claimed he was unimpressed with the pay-per-view figures of their UFC 292 clash. Despite “Sugar” being touted as one of the biggest stars in the sport today. Sterling will be moving up to 145 pounds to fight Calvin Kattar at UFC 300, while O’Malley is planning to defend his throne against Marlon Vera atop UFC 299 in March.