Conor’s Curious Year
By Eddie Sanchez
Despite only fighting once this year, back in January, 2020 has been a busy year for the Irishman. Given his status as one of the most marketable combat sports figures in the world, COVID-19 has affected his activity more than most.
For months, Conor was rarely discussed as a true option for a PPV headliner with fans being unable to contribute to a live gate. His love-hate relationship with Dana White seemed to feel the effects as it was claimed he broke man code in leaking DMs that included conversations of negotiations. As far as leaked DMs go, these are not the worst , so I guess he gets some sort of props there.
He was also once again mentioned in a sexual assault dispute, but since the headlines came out a month ago, it’s been crickets. For his sake, this is best, but fans on social media have let it be known that they have not forgotten.
Given the unfortunate circumstance he finds himself in, it seems there is more motivation to stay active than before. Conor has had numerous rumors in the past months including a charity match with Dustin Poirier and a crossover bout with Manny Pacquiao. As we have seen over the past week, Dana White took control of the narrative and is publicly advocating for a true rematch to be staged with Dustin Poirier.
The way the year has gone for Conor, if this rematch can be staged before the end of 2020 as he and Dustin would like, this would be great news for all parties involved.
If interviews and airwave time is a positive sign that the fight will happen, then things are looking great. Dustin has been actively speaking to the media about the possible PPV and offered his thoughts on Conor’s intentions, for which we saw Conor essentially confirmedpublicly on Twitter.
Dustin sees the possibility as Conor’s way of staying active against an opponent he’s familiar with, possibly to meet UFC obligations, before a big-money fight with Manny Pacquio. I think this is a fair assessment of the situation. The UFC would like to have their fans have a recent memory of a victorious Conor (assuming he beats Dustin a second time) before likely getting outclassed by the WBA Welterweight Champion (lol at likely, this is surely as it can get).
Although it seems like everyone is looking past the pending McGregor-Poirier matchup, even Dustin himself to some extent, this is by no means a pushover stay-busy fight. Both men are in the Top 10 P4P rankings Dustin has surely improved since their bout back in 2014. Also, it may be fair to ask if Conor will be fully focused with the sexual assault investigation and Manny Pacuqiao fight in his thoughts.
As a former two division champion who has dealt with multiple personal demons and distractions, one must give him the benefit of the doubt. Regardless, it is fair to ponder, and even more likely to make a few headlines leading up to the potential PPV date to drum up casual interest.
For now we can just wait and let the cards fall as they may. Although the hope is for the end of 2020, Dana left us with his own thoughts.
Per usual, it looks like the ball is in Conor’s court. For everyone’s sake, let’s hope it’s a quick decision.
******************UPDATED 10/14/20 @ 7:20PM******************
It looks like the wait is over, Conor McGregor not only confirms via Twitter that he is ready for the fight, he claims that his friend Jerry Jone will lend the services of the AT&T Center to host fans.
This is the best possible news the UFC could have hoped for. Once it became apparent that Conor and Dustin wanted the rematch to go down, the three parties essentially wasted no time to get it confirmed.
Given the fact that headliners such as Figueiredo-Garbrandt and Usman-Burns got cancelled and postponed respectively, the McGregor news is just what they needed! This should be a great fight and I can’t wait to see a crowd cheering them on.
Will this lead to a blockbuster PPV date with Manny Pacquiao?
