Conor McGregor’s planned UFC comeback is just under a year away, and he’s already making outlandish demands.
Legendary two-weight world champion McGregor has claimed that he will be returning to the octagon at the UFC’s White House event next summer. He has been campaigning for a fight, likely with Michael Chandler, since President Donald Trump announced the massive showcase earlier this month.
McGregor is one of a host of big names who want on the card, including Jon Jones who even returned to the UFC drug testing pool in preparation for a return from retirement. But he is already telling Dana White exactly what he needs in order to make the fight happen.
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Conor McGregor demands his teammate is signed in order to make UFC return
Conor McGregor was very active celebrating his birthday on social media this morning, sharing photos and tributes from fans, fellow athletes and friends. One friend was The Ultimate Fighter contestant Lee Hammond, whom he coached on season 31.
Hammond was undefeated as a professional after a lengthy amateur career when he came on the show. And despite the fact his defeat to eventual winner Kurt Holobaugh didn’t end up on his record, he did lose his unbeaten record in his first fight outside of the show last year.
Now, McGregor has demanded that Dana White sign Hammond up to the UFC, even off the back of two defeats in a row. The pair have been teammates at SBG Ireland and the Crumlin Boxing Club ‘School of Excellence’ for years.
When Hammond wrote [in Irish] “Happy birthday brother,” McGregor replied by saying: “MAC MANSION. VEGAS. 2015. I’M BACK WHEN LEE IS SIGNED. ONLY.” He then tagged Dana White and added a hashtag referring to Crumlin Boxing Club.
Conor McGregor has had a number of teammates signed to UFC
Back when he started in the UFC, McGregor had a large amount of teammates who ended up on the roster alongside him. He arrived on the heels of Tom Egan and Gunnar Nelson, and was quickly joined by Aisling Daly, Paddy Holohan and Cathal Pendred among others.
Later in his run, he even managed to help get Artem Lobov on The Ultimate Fighter despite a near 50/50 record and the Russian stayed on the roster for years. After that, many of his teammates went to Bellator including most notably James Gallagher and world title contenders Peter Queally and Sinead Kavanagh.
Now, he is joined on the UFC roster by just three Irish fighters; Kiefer Crosbie, Shauna Bannon and Ian Machado Garry. Of those three, only Crosbie is a teammate of his at SBG Ireland although he maintains a good relationship with them all.