Conor McGregor’s business partner David Feldman has claimed the UFC star is currently ‘better than in his prime’, as McGregor eyes a return to the Octagon.
McGregor has not fought since 2021, when he suffered a broken leg in a loss to Dustin Poirier, and he is desperate to return on the UFC’s planned White House card – which is scheduled for 14 June.
While UFC president Dana White has been coy about the Irishman’s chances of featuring, McGregor has increased his training in case, and he has claimed to have undergone a spiritual and physical transformation in recent months.
Now, he has been vouched for by Feldman, the president of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, of which McGregor is a part owner.
“The best 10-times Conor McGregor you have ever seen right now,” Feldman told Uncrowned on Thursday. “Better than he was when he was in his prime. The most focused, wants to do everything right.
“He’s training his ass off each and every day, he’s eating right, he’s going to church. He’s doing everything that he’s supposed to do.
“This is not the Conor McGregor we have seen in the past couple of years. This is the best Conor McGregor that I’ve personally ever seen.
“I am sure that the UFC wants Conor McGregor to fight. He’s gonna fight and they are going to make it work. It makes sense for him to fight at the White House. My confidence level is probably around a 99 per cent.”
McGregor, 37, has battled legal issues more than in-ring opponents in recent years, but in his prime he was a fighting phenom. After knocking out the great Jose Aldo in 13 seconds in 2015, to unify the UFC featherweight titles, McGregor added the lightweight belt in 2016. Never before had a fighter held two UFC titles at once.
However, his UFC career changed when he ventured away from the Octagon to box Floyd Mayweather in 2017. Since then, McGregor has gone 1-3 in the cage, beating Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds in 2020 but losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018 and Poirier twice in 2021. Nurmagomedov submitted the Irishman in their fight, while Poirier knocked out McGregor in January 2021 before the latter suffered a broken leg in their next clash.
McGregor was due to return to the UFC in June 2024, but he withdrew from a long-awaited bout with Michael Chandler on two weeks’ notice, citing a broken toe.
This January, McGregor claimed his UFC contract is void due to the promotion’s move away from a pay-per-view (PPV) model, a move that is part of its new broadcast deal with Paramount+.
“They’ve got a new deal with Paramount... and my contract essentially is void right now, because there’s no more PPV, whereas my contract was based on PPV sales,” McGregor claimed on a live stream with Caylus.
“I’m the highest-generating PPV fighter of all time [in the UFC]. The PPV system is done. I’m due a new contract, so we’re going into negotiations in February, and I’m very interested to see how it goes.”
In 2022, Forbes ranked McGregor at No 35 on its annual list of the world’s highest-paid athletes. His ranking was based on his two major paydays against Poirier in 2021, the same year he reportedly sold his majority stake in Proper No. Twelve whiskey.
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