Conor McGregor is still not comfortable spending time as a free fighting pensioner. The athlete from the Republic of Ireland announced his re-fight in January 2020.
McGregor is known to have decided to retire from the arena of free combat (mixed martial arts) on March 26, amid the validity of the match sentence from the Nevada Athletic Commission. The retirement announcement was made nearly six months after he was defeated in submission by Khabib Nurmagomedov, in the fourth round of the fight for the lightweight champion at the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 229 on October 6, 2018.
However, the issue of McGregor’s return to the octagon ring continued to be heard intensively even though he had declared his resignation. This is because the name is still listed in the MMA fighter ranking list. Besides, McGregor often issues comeback signals, one of which is through interviews with ESPN and status on his social media.
Seven months after declaring his retirement, the man nicknamed The Notorious announced his return at the UFC. Through the conference held in Moscow, Russia, McGregor even announced the place and date of the battle, namely in Las Vegas on January 18, 2020. Even so, it is not yet known who will be his opponent.
“The date has been agreed. I don’t care who will be my opponent,” McGregor said, Thursday (10/24), as quoted by the BBC.
After this announcement, McGregor will immediately prepare himself. He must maximize the time of fewer than three months to return to the best condition as when he was competing first.
“It takes 66 days to form habits. Now I have to go to bed early and wake up early. I will focus on fighting, and not get drunk,” McGregor added.
After the comeback, it is believed that McGregor will immediately challenge Khabib to a rematch, although there is no certainty between the two camps. Choosing Russia as the location of the press conference is believed to be McGregor’s way to heat the atmosphere of his rivalry with Khabib, as well as the message that he has returned.