UFC: Conor McGregor's Return Isn't About Money, Donald Cerrone Fight Likely To Happen

Conor McGregor’s manager stated that his fighter’s return to UFC isn’t about money and a fight with Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone is currently progressing.

The much awaited UFC return of McGregor was already targeted on January 18 next year. The widespread expectation is that the former two-division king will be welcomed back by veteran lightweight gunslinger Cerrone. The lightweight bout is still not official, but McGregor’s manager Audie Attar insisted that negotiations are underway.

In a recent interview with The Post, Attar clarified that McGregor vs. Cerrone is still a “work in progress” but both camps are in “close communication” with each other.

“I would say that talks have been progressing,” Attar stated.

“We’ve met them, we’re in close communication with them. I would hope that an announcement could happen in the coming weeks, but at the end of the day, it’s still a work in progress,” Attar continued.

In another interview with Elie Seckbach of EsNews, Attar admitted that there are a lot of options but he is really rooting for a Cerrone fight in McGregor’s return.

“Look, there’s a bunch of options but I said it publicly beforeI love “Cowboy” Cerrone, I think that would be a great match-up,” Attar said.

Upon announcing his comeback plans last month, McGregor noted that he intends to fight three times in 2020. Attar backed McGregor’s statement and claimed that the said plan has little to do with money. Instead, it’s more about proving that “The Notorious” is at his best when he’s able to stay active.

“When you look back to when he was winning fights, he was fighting often. He wasn’t fighting once a year, he was fighting often, he was staying active,” Attar emphasized.

“He never has to fight one fight more in his life. At the end of the day, that’s the thing people forgot about him; he actually is a competitor. He dares to do things differently,” Attar added.

The MMA world has witnessed how McGregor made a name for himself in the sport. And as per Attar, the UFC superstar is planning to repeat what he does best and that includes doing “things nobody thought” he could.

“He strives for greatness and dreams for things that nobody thought that he could accomplish, and he’s doing that again,” Attar noted.

McGregor has not stepped foot in the Octagon since he was defeated by UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in October of 2018. And while a rematch is unlikely to happen at this point, fans still believe that Nurmagomedov and McGregor will face each other again soon.