Last night, Thursday September 5, the brash talking UFC fighter turned boxer turned actor turned athletic enigma took to X to declare that he would be running for president in his native Ireland.
As President I hold the power to summon the Dáil as well as dissolve it. So as i said before, I would have all the answers the people of Ireland seek from these thieves of the working man, these disrupters of the family unit, these destructors of small businesses, and on and on…
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) September 5, 2024
Interesting? Perhaps. But for anyone who was still holding their breath that McGregor would return to the UFC to fight Michael Chandler, if this Tweet is to be taken literally, then one can only assume that ship has sailed permanently.
McGregor was slated to face Chandler earlier this year at UFC 303 in June, but pulled out of the bout due to an injury, and there has been no update on his fighting career since.
When asked about McGregor’s return, UFC boss Dana White said in a post fight press conference earlier this year, “McGregor wants to fight. We’ll figure it out. Not this year. He won’t fight this year.”
McGregor himself responded in a since deleted tweet, writing, “Ah Dana, December is the date. Bring the calendar year home with a winning event. Come on now, what’s this? I am off to altitude next month to prepare. December! Tell Dana and UFC we want December. We deserve December!”
Well, apparently what we “deserve” is a Conor McGregor presidency.
This adds to the back and forth between McGregor and Jake Paul, and their potential boxing match which, realistically, has a slim chance of happening. But then again, weirder things have occurred. But when you consider McGregor’s recent track record – starring alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in Amazon Prime’s Roadhouse, and his lucrative Proper No. Twelve whisky brand, both of which have earned him some serious bank – it’s hard to imagine that he’s itching to jump back into the violent flood of a physically and mentally taxing training camp. For someone who loves the spotlight, starring alongside Hollywood A-listers is undoubtedly easier and less demanding than fighting anyone for that matter, but especially Michael Chandler, who is one of the nastiest, most exciting UFC fighters of the last decade.
Ah, well. We’ll see what happens.
