Reports have emerged that Conor McGregor has turned down multiple offers to fight Justin Gaethje
UFC phenom “Notorious” Conor McGregor’s return to competition is still up in the air. McGregor last competed in July 2021 against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.
At UFC 264 McGregor sustained a broken leg at the end of the first round. The injury was thought to have him out for a year.
Three years on and still without a confirmed date the MMA world wonders when the ‘Mac’ will be back. After his appearance on The Ultimate Fighter Season 31 with Michael Chandler in August 2023 it seemed we were closing in on a return.
TUF coaches McGregor and Chandler were set to fight at UFC 303. Ultimately McGregor was unable to compete due to a broken toe sustained in camp.
For all the time past since his last contest McGregor insists he is still hungry and raring to go. But MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz believes he will never return.
Ali and Conor have long shared a dislike for one another starting with Conor’s heated rivalry with Khabib Nurmagomedov. Nurmagomedov, who Abdelaziz managed during his time in the UFC, produced arguably the most spiteful feud in the UFC’s history.
Abdelaziz got brought into the beef on many occasions by Conor. McGregor repeatedly accused Ali of being tied to terrorist organisations which started the hatred between Conor and Ali.
Ever since Abdelaziz has understandably been quick to throw shade on McGregor, most recently in an interview with Submission Radio.
Conor McGregor Repeatedly Turns Down a Fight With Justin Gaethje
In the interview, Ali Abdelaziz accuses Conor McGregor of turning down a fight with Justin Gaethje, another fighter under Abdelaziz’s management. According to Ali, McGregor has been offered the fight multiple times.
He said:
“Let’s be real, Conor McGregor will never, will never, will never… he got offered this fight at least five times. At least five. He never wanted to have to do anything with Justin Gaethje. He said the reason he didn’t want to fight Justin was because Justin talked bad to him on Twitter and Instagram before.”
Ali then added that the UFC asked him to leave McGregor alone, stating:
“The last five, six years we offered Justin Gaethje so many times. Even the UFC, told me this, ‘Hey, leave him alone. Don’t talk with him. He doesn’t like to fight people who talk bad to him on the internet.’ I promise you, he likes to be the one to start the talk and you retaliate.”
Ali went on to claim the reason Michael Chandler is being nice to McGregor is because the UFC instructed him to:
“Why do you think [Michael] Chandler being so nice to him? Why? Because he was being told not to talk bad to Conor. Conor has to start talking bad and he talk bad back. He’s a weak mental midget. He’s soft like a marshmallow. And he’s a no-good, son of a bitch. This is what he is.”
Whether the claims of Abdelaziz are true or not hasn’t been verified. But it certainly raises questions over how keen McGregor is to get back in the octagon.
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