Shortly after his super-fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr., McGregor began selling a training program and announced a branded whisky. Now he’s looking to up the ante in his business ventures by getting a piece of the UFC.
Earlier this week at the opening of his documentary, Notorious,in Dublin, McGregor informed the media that he wouldn’t be returning to the cage unless he was given UFC ownership status. “They’ve got to entice me now because I came from a billion dollar fight,” McGregor told reporters. “They’ve got to entice me. I want equity. I want ownership. I want to be a true partner, similar in the way I was in the Floyd fight. I was a promoter and I was a fighter, and that must continue for me to continue.”
This isn’t the first push McGregor has made to become part owner of the prized fighting organization. Last year the Irishman tested the waters, but UFC president Dana White put a lid on it, saying the only way the “Notorious” would become an owner was if he bought in.
Time changes everything, and White may be changing his tune when it comes to McGregor’s ownership aspirations. Just yesterday the UFC president told ESPN, “If anybody deserves that stuff, it’s freaking Conor. Conor is the real deal and he’s a huge superstar, a global superstar, and we will get a deal done.”
In the meantime, White would love to get McGregor back in the Octagon, doing what he does best. Just recently, TMZ caught up with White in New York City promoting UFC 217 at Madison Square Garden. When questioned about the return of his biggest star to the sport, White confirmed that both sides are working to make it happen, and, ideally, he’d like to see McGregor fighting in the Octagon before the end of the year.
Whether he’s wearing fighitng trunks or a business suit, we’re betting on McGregor to come out a winner in his next UFC endeavor.
