Conor McGregor has explained how his incredible combat sports rise — which included that $100 million boxing blockbuster against Floyd Mayweather — eventually impacted his life away from fighting, admitting: “I got lost… I got lost in it”.
The declaration comes as the Irish superstar has also come under fire from the UFC’s reigning BMF champ Charles Oliveira, who has accused the former ‘Champ Champ’ of “running” from a huge showdown between the pair.
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After five years away from the Octagon, McGregor is now finally readying to return against Max Holloway at UFC 329 on Sunday, July 12.
The Las Vegas headliner will be the 37-year-old’s first appearance since suffering a horrific broken leg in his 2021 trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier.
McGregor also revealed he will then again fight in April 2027, as per his UFC contract.
Speaking this week however, Oliveira accused the Irishman of deliberately ducking him in his comeback – and suggested he would now look to unify the BMF and UFC titles with Justin Gaethje.
Back in March, Oliveira beat Holloway at UFC 326, and suggested the winner was supposed to get the man dubbed ‘Mystic Mac’.
Quizzed on McGregor’s return against Holloway, the Brazilian told MMA Fighting: “You and everyone else know that fight was supposed to be mine, but he chose Max because he thinks he can beat Max.
“The truth is, he ran from me. It was never officially offered [to me], but everyone knew that whoever won between Max and I would fight him. In reality, he picked Max because he thought it was the easier path.”
So as for a prediction?
“It’s a complicated fight,” Oliveira conceded of McGregor’s return. “Because he hasn’t been in the cage for a long time.
“How many years has he been out now? It’s been a long time, five years without fighting. But he’s Conor. If you make a mistake and he lands, he will knock you out.”
Soon after, the Brazilian continued: “I think the first and second rounds favor [McGregor] a lot.
“After that, things swing much more in Max’s favor. Conor has a great chance of getting the knockout early if he can impose his game. But once you get past those rounds, Max definitely has a much better chance of winning.”
Elsewhere, McGregor has also addressed the various headlines continually plaguing a career now readying for resurrection, conceding “there may be pockets where I would have disrespected and disgraced the position God put me in”.
Since that last fight against Poirier, the Irishman has been involved in various negative headlines including a Miami sexual assault allegation, accusations of assaulting a woman on his yacht, and being found liable in an Irish civil case regarding a 2018 sexual assault.
Incredibly, it has now been 10 years since McGregor beat Eddie Alvarez to win the UFC lightweight title – and simultaneously earn ‘Champ Champ’ status – before then switching sports for his Mayweather blockbuster.
The Irishman then disappeared for a considerable break before returning, and losing, against Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018.
Speaking in an interview with Paramount, McGregor reflected on that time in his life, saying: “At 27 years of age, I had the game conquered.
“Two-weight world champion, I had the Floyd bout … I was only 27 years of age. I had the game wrapped up in a blink.
“What more was I to do? I got lost. I got lost in it. Made some mistakes off of that and that’s it. [But] you’ll always come home if you truly love something, you’ll always come home.”
He then continued: “There may be pockets where I would have disrespected and disgraced the position God put me in. Maybe some fans would see that: ‘Hey he didn’t put in this or he showed no love for the game’.
“That’s probably accurate. It is accurate in fact. But I for sure love this game. It’s my every waking thought, the fight game.
“I’m excited to come back and showcase it.”
McGregor also stressed he was continually looking to better himself.
“It’s day-by-day work,” he said. “Day after day, you’ve got to put it in. The rent is due everyday they say.
“It’s akin to walking a tight rope. You better learn how to balance. You better learn and practice your balance, [because] life is about balance.
“If you don’t, you’re one slight wobble from falling off entirely and it can be drastic.
“Even more so to a person who puts in work and makes inroads to becoming better and leaving a certain way behind. You’re even more on the tight rope. The tight rope is even thinner for them because if it goes, it’s a heavier drop. It’s day by day you work.”
McGregor also reflected on the incredible fame that has come with his fight career.
“Fame has its pitfalls,” he conceded. “You better move carefully in this world, for sure, probably even more so now. I’ve taken a lot of lessons in my life, and it’s just about self-discovery.
“Studying yourself. Learning yourself. Learning triggers.
“I find myself even now still in a fight with an old version of me or old ways that don’t serve me and new ways and a new version of me, the new me so I still find myself in this balance. Right now.
“More as a human. I went through some treatment, I done a lot of self-reflective work on myself. Internal work and it was outside of this bubble that we find ourself now when I return to the fight game.”
And now on his return to the spotlight, McGregor stressed that the battle continues.
Wild fight stuns after controversial end | 02:48
“On my immediate return to this game and the cameras and even this now, I found myself reverting to an old version of me,” he explained. “I had to kind of remind myself, hold on, I just had to reflect again and say I’m different now. I’m a different person. I’ve put in work.
“It’s easy to fall into old habits. You have to be careful. You have to practice with people, places, things, protect people, places, things. Don’t find yourself in similar places that you would have been. I’m still in that fight. Competition for me and activity and work helps that for sure. I still have work to do.”