Conor McGregor just passed three years out of action with the anniversary of his last fight against Dustin Poirier happening back in July 2021 and there’s still no word on when he may compete again.
Of course, the Irish superstar was supposed to fight Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in June but he dropped out of the fight after revealing that he suffered a broken toe in sparring. McGregor later stated that unlike the past when he fought through similar injuries, he refused to risk performing at less than 100 percent in his first fight back after suffering a horrific broken leg in that matchup against Poirier.
Because time keeps ticking away, McGregor’s continued absence has provided a lot of skepticism about whether or not he’ll actually fight again. Former PFL champion Brendan Loughnane, who spent several weeks training with McGregor this past year, promises there’s no question that the Irish superstar will eventually make his return.
“Of course, he wants to fight,” Loughnane told The MMA Hour. “Money doesn’t matter to Conor. Conor is an out and out scrapper. Conor just wants to fight. I was in the training room with him, four to six weeks whatever it was, training everyday. Fighting each other. This guy is hungry for it.
“He doesn’t have to do this now. He’s touching billionaire status. He’s doing this out of the love of the sport. The guy loves it through and through. He’s a martial artist. He wakes up everyday, this is what lights the fire inside people like him and me.”
As far as pulling out of his bout in June with the broken pinky toe, McGregor has faced plenty of criticism for bowing out rather than fighting through the injury.
Loughnane couldn’t disagree more, especially given McGregor’s long history in the UFC where he’s taken more than a few fights when he was banged up, bruised or dealing with some kind of injury that could have easily led to his removal from a card.
Actually taking a step back and realizing that he shouldn’t fight compromised after three years away from the sport shows that McGregor is approaching his return the right way.
“The fact that he got the injury and he pulled out shows me he’s in a good place,” Loughnane explained. “Because it’s like going through these fights injured, he’s done it before, it’s well documented he’s done it plenty of times before. Do it when you’re healthy. There’s so much on the line now. Do it while you’re healthy. Let it heal up.
“It’s well documented that he’s done it so many times with very, very bad injuries. It’s even the knees, the leg, he’s gone in there. I’m glad that he did it, showing maturity and I can’t wait for his comeback.”
Loughnane initially connected with McGregor when they were both in Dubai but it turns out there was a planned reunion that was supposed to happen prior to UFC 303.
Unfortunately, McGregor’s injury nixed those plans but Loughnane welcomes the chance to train with him again if he gets the call.
“I was supposed to fly there the next day straight from my [fight] with one of his coaches,” Loughnane revealed. “We were getting on the flight, booking flights, we were going to get on the first flight at 6 a.m. out from Sioux Falls straight to Vegas to the fight and then obviously it didn’t happen. I’m really looking forward to that comeback.
“I’m here in the U.K. now. I’m only a short flight to Ireland. Me and John [Kavanagh] have a great relationship. Me and his other coach, we have a fantastic relationship, his camera man, I know the whole team training and I am always up [for it]. Why would I not be up for training with Conor McGregor? He rings me or messages me, and I’ll be a part of it. I’ve got my own camp coming up. I always need hungry bodies myself so it would be great.”
