Conor McGregor says he’s already ‘in talks’ to return to the fight game

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• Conor McGregor is apparently "in talks" to fight once again, ending a short-lived retirement he announced last month.
• The UFC striker tweeted his resignation from mixed martial arts in March, but it was a move that few in the industry believed.
• Even the UFC president Dana White was hopeful of speaking to McGregor "face to face" and offering him something that would make him happy.
• McGregor appeared to announce a return to the Octagon in a tweet last week, and is now seemingly making plans to secure his UFC comeback for good.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Conor McGregor has said he is "in talks" to return to combat sports.

The former two-weight UFC world champion announced an abrupt retirement from the fight game in March, six months after his fourth round submission loss to the lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Not everybody believed him. Nurmagomedov said he didn’t think his rival was finished and the UFC boss Dana White said he expected to meet McGregor "face to face" and negotiate his comeback.

Read more: Conor McGregor’s fall has been as sharp as his monumental rise, and it’s unlikely he’ll retire on such a humiliating low

Even McGregor himself appeared to announce a return to the UFC Octagon in a tweet that said he wanted to "move forward" after White criticized his "unacceptable" social media feud with Nurmagomedov.

Now McGregor has been more explicit, tweeting on Wednesday that he is "in training" and "in talks" for a fight.

McGregor had previously been linked with a bout against the lightweight muay thai and jiujitsu expert Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone — a fight that had all the makings of a UFC classic.

However, Cerrone has since moved on and will fight Al Iaquinta in a lightweight showdown that main events Fight Night 150 on May 4 in Ottawa, Canada.

An immediate rematch against Nurmagomedov is unlikely because the undefeated Dagestan wrestler is still serving a Nevada State Athletic Commission suspension until June, for the role he played in the post-fight riots that marred UFC 229. McGregor’s ban expired earlier this month and so he’s therefore free to fight whenever.

This leaves McGregor with few options aside from a trilogy bout with Nate Diaz, something the Irishman’s head coach John Kavanagh would be excited to be involved in as Diaz would "bring the best" out of his fighter.

Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images

McGregor had previously indicated he would only fight for an equity stake in the UFC, a red line that the company is unwilling to cross according to White.

Regardless, White is confident the UFC can entice McGregor back to combat. "He’s stuck on this thing where he wants a piece of the ownership and if you look at basketball, Michael Jordan didn’t own a piece of the league," White recently said on 8 News Now, a CBS-affiliated broadcaster in Las Vegas.

"I think there’s other ways that we can make him happy."

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See Also:

• ‘Somebody’s going to end up hurt or shot’ if the Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor rivalry escalates, UFC fighter says
• ‘Lowlife’ Conor McGregor is loud when he’s thousands of miles away but silent when he’s being hit in the face, Khabib Nurmagomedov says
• Conor McGregor appeared to announce his return to the Octagon and said he wanted to ‘move forward’ after his ‘Islamophobic’ tweet

SEE ALSO: The coach of Conor McGregor says the UFC star doesn’t spend much money because his expensive clothes and cars are ‘given to him’

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UP NEXT: Conor McGregor’s fall has been as sharp as his monumental rise, and it’s unlikely he’ll retire on such a humiliating low

Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Alan Dawson)