Conor McGregor

Conor McGregor might be officially done with UFC and mixed martial arts as he begins his Hollywood career, which he indicated Thursday on Twitter:

Throwback to me vs Gabriel Gonzaga in Japan, I can’t believe I’m about to hit Hollywood. I will do you all proud 🎥 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/qLouRZpD81

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) August 4, 2022

Mma, I’ll never forget you! Easy work.

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) August 4, 2022

McGregor is slated to make his full acting debut in a remake of Road House alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, per Justin Kroll of Deadline.

In a statement released Wednesday, McGregor's spokesperson said that "fighting remains his top focus."

The former two-division UFC champion last appeared in a match in July 2021, a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier.

McGregor has been recovering from his leg injury, but UFC President Dana White told TMZ Sports in June that the Irish star was "starting to ramp up his training" with the expectation he would return in late 2022 or early 2023.

The 34-year-old is still well-removed from his prime, winning just one match since 2016. In that time, he lost twice to Poirier and once to Khabib Nurmagomedov, with his only bright spot being a 40-second knockout over Donald Cerrone.

He currently ranks 12th in the UFC's lightweight division.

McGregor has still been successful outside the Octagon, with Forbes naming him the highest-paid athlete in the world in 2021. Even with zero wins, he made $22 million from UFC and $158 million from endorsements and investments, including his Proper No. Twelve whiskey.

While there is no shortage of competitors who would want to face McGregor, it's clear he can find success without MMA.

If Conor McGregor wants to return to the UFC as a welterweight fighter, Gilbert Burns would relish the opportunity to square off with him inside the Octagon.

Speaking to Damon Martin of MMA Fighting, Burns said McGregor is "not a welterweight" fighter but he would "love to beat the s--t" out of him if he wants to compete in the division.

"I think he’s not going to take that punch," Burns explained. "I’m not even talking about grappling cause that’s not fair. [I’d] just take him down and maul him, but a fight with Conor, it’s a win-win for me. I’m going to beat him up and I’m going to get a ton of crazy money."

The Notorious posted pictures of his body transformation from December in which he said his weight was at 190 pounds.

https://twitter.com/TheNotoriousMMA/status/1466952745139716106

McGregor has competed in the 155-pound division for most of his career, but he does have three fights at welterweight since 2016. He has a 2-1 record in those bouts, with wins over Nate Diaz and Donald Cerrone.

It would seem odd for McGregor to put on as much weight as he has if he intended to fight at lightweight again.

McGregor hasn't fought since 2021 when he lost back-to-back bouts against Dustin Poirier. The Irish superstar's loss at UFC 264 came via a doctor stoppage between Rounds 1 and 2 when he injured his leg early in the opening round.

It was revealed McGregor suffered a fractured tibia and fibula that required surgery. He told SevereMMA in February (h/t MMA Fighting) that he would likely be cleared to spar in April, which could put him on track to fight again as soon as July.

The UFC has yet to announce a return fight for McGregor.

Burns seems to be looking for a marquee opponent, especially as he tries to get back on track with two losses in his past three bouts. Durinho isn't a prodigious knockout artist with just six wins by knockout or TKO in 25 fights, but he sounds confident in his ability to drop McGregor if the two meet.

UFC superstar Conor McGregor will make his acting debut in Amazon Prime Video's reimagined take on the 1980s classic Road House starring Patrick Swayze.

Justin Kroll of Deadline reported Wednesday that McGregor will join a cast led by Jake Gyllenhaal, who's set to play a former UFC fighter now working as a bouncer. The 34-year-old Irishman is slated for an original character role and won't portray himself in the film.

His spokesperson provided a statement to MMA journalist Ariel Helwani:

Conor McGregor will make his motion picture acting debut along Jake Gyllenhaal in the 80’s classic “Road House” remake, it was announced today. Filming starts within the month. He will have a leading role.

Here’s a statement from his spokesperson @KarenKesslerPR: pic.twitter.com/sDyXrw8guG

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) August 3, 2022

McGregor turned down previous offers from Hollywood to take part in movies but expressed interest in the Road House project after watching the original, per Kroll.

Filming will begin in the Dominican Republic this month. An expected release date hasn't been set.

Kroll noted other members of the cast include Billy Magnussen, Daniela Melchior, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Lukas Gage, Hannah Love Lanier, Travis Van Winkle, B.K. Cannon, Arturo Castro, Dominique Columbus, Beau Knapp and Bob Menery.

"I'm thrilled to put my own spin on the beloved Road House legacy," director Doug Liman told CNN's Marianne Garvey on Tuesday. "And I can't wait to show audiences what Jake and I are going to do with this iconic role."

In the 1989 film, Swayze played the role of a head bouncer working at a small-town Missouri bar. It generated $30 million in revenue, per Box Office Mojo.

McGregor last entered the Octagon in July 2021 and suffered a gruesome leg injury during a loss to Dustin Poirier.

In May, the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion told Sky Sports he was training toward a return on multiple fronts.

"Boxing is my first love in combat sports. I had such a great time the last time I was out there," McGregor said. "Obviously, my return will be in the Octagon for UFC—that story is far from over, in fact it's just being written, it is just the beginning. But, boxing, for sure I will grace the squared circle again in the future."

He made his boxing debut in August 2017, suffering a 10th-round knockout loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Meanwhile, his UFC results have faded in recent years. After going 9-1 over his first 10 fights for the promotion, he's dropped three of his past four bouts.

His mainstream popularity has endured despite the dip in performance, and it should help the new version of Road House attract attention ahead of its eventual release.

UFC president Dana White isn't buying talk of a potential boxing rematch between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor.

Emma Parry of UK publication The Sun reported Tuesday that Mayweather and McGregor were "very close" to reaching an agreement to fight for a second time.

Per Parry, the bout would be contested at 155 lbs. and "personal terms" have been agreed upon, but there are still some sticking points, including the length of the fight.

When asked about the report by TMZ Sports on Tuesday, White shot it down, calling it "total bulls--t."

https://twitter.com/MMAJunkie/status/1552301028896284674

Mayweather and McGregor met in August 2017 for arguably the biggest crossover fight in combat sports history. McGregor held his own, but Mayweather ultimately won by 10th-round technical knockout, improving his career record to 50-0.

After the fight, Mayweather announced his retirement, and while he has competed in some exhibition bouts since then, he has remained true to his word by not competing in another professional fight.

White's stake in a Mayweather vs. McGregor fight relates to McGregor, who is under a UFC contract and is one of the promotion's biggest stars.

The former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion has not competed inside the Octagon since UFC 264 last July, which saw him lose to Dustin Poirier by doctor stoppage after suffering a broken leg.

In March, McGregor said he was aiming for a late-summer return to the UFC and named welterweight champion Kamaru Usman as his preferred opponent.

McGregor has lost three of his past four fights and four of his past seven after previously winning 15 in a row, calling into question whether he is still a top fighter.

Regardless, McGregor remains a top draw, and while a rematch with Mayweather would undoubtedly generate huge money, White would clearly prefer for McGregor's return to occur under the UFC umbrella.

Michael Chandler believes he and Conor McGregor would be box office gold inside the Octagon.

"If Conor's coming back anytime soon, I think me and Conor would make some fireworks, and it's a fight that fans want to see," Chandler told TMZ Sports. "I think it's the biggest fight we can make in mixed martial arts right now, and I try to say that as humble as possible, but I think it's a huge fight."

McGregor hasn't fought since UFC 264 in July 2021. He suffered a first-round TKO defeat to Dustin Poirier when broke his left fibula and tibia.

Considering UFC 264 generated 1.5 million pay-per-view buys per Tapology, McGregor's return would likely draw a lot of attention. Pitting him against Chandler might add to the intrigue.

The former Bellator lightweight world champion lost two of his first three bouts in the UFC but rebounded with a vicious knockout of Tony Ferguson at UFC 274 in May. He's the No. 5 lightweight challenger in UFC's fighter rankings.

At UFC 276, Alex Volkanovski didn't leave much room for interpretation.

First, he defeated the great Max Holloway for the third time, dominating the former champ to defend his featherweight title and close the door on their rivalry.

Then, on no uncertain terms, he reiterated his desire to move on to greener, heavier pastures.

"I just proved to you that I want to be in this Octagon as much as possible,” Volkanovski said after Saturday's fight at T-Mobile Arena, per Damon Martin of MMA Fighting. "I want to be busy. I want to move up [to lightweight] and go for double champ, and I'll keep two divisions busy. Charles [Oliveira], whoever gets that belt, no disrespect, I'd love to move up, get that double-champ status."

He's certainly earned the right to try his hand.

After taking out Holloway via unanimous decision in the co-main event, Volkanovski is now 25-1 overall, 12-0 in the UFC and 4-0 in consecutive title defenses. During the performance, he outlanded Holloway (23-7) by a 199-127 margin, a far greater difference than their two previous matchups. If that's not a cleaned-out division, it's pretty darn close.

There are still bows at featherweight; Josh Emmett or the winner of the bout between Yair Rodriguez and Brian Ortega on July 16 come to mind. Another high-profile name who has thrown himself into the ring is Henry Cejudo. But let's hit the brakes on that one right now. As great as the semi-retired Cejudo was, he's still a flyweight who stretched to make bantamweight. He'd be massively undersized against Volkanovski, a featherweight who has competed at welterweight.

In any case, lightweight is clearly Volk's preferred destination, and he wants to go straight to a title shot. The former rugby player should have no trouble adding the requisite mass. However, with the lightweight belt sitting vacant and with an injured hand clouding Volk's return timeline, his request requires a bit of a thought exercise.

Oliveira will likely be one-half of the lightweight title bout whenever it's announced. But who else might be in the mix for Volk at 155 pounds, regardless of whether he gets to cut the line? Here are five possibilities listed in no particular order.

Charles Oliveira

Let's get the obvious choice out of the way first. You can rearrange Oliveira, Volkanovski, middleweight champ Israel Adesanya and welterweight champ Kamaru Usman at the top of the pound-for-pound list, but no matter how you slice it, this matchup would give you two of the four best fighters on planet Earth.

But here's the rub: Oliveira has repeatedly called for a date with Conor McGregor, whenever McGregor returns from that gruesome leg injury (the general target is early fall).

So that may leave Volkanovski—and everyone else—on the outside looking in when it comes to the lightweight title picture. But there are even more complications. Oliveira recently told Helen Yee Sports that he's willing to move up a weight class if it means securing the McGregor fight. No shade on Oliveira for following the money, but it further complicates the scenarios at 155.

Dustin Poirier

Poirier appears to be on a collision course with Michael Chandler following a cageside fracas at UFC 276. Still, you know he'd love one or both of the following things to happen: 1) another shot at the lightweight title and 2) something with a lot of zeroes behind it.

A mega-bout with Volkanovski would satisfy the second criterion, and it could satisfy the first if Oliveira is more fixed on McGregor to the point that he'd walk away, if only temporarily, from the division he ruled for roughly a year .

If Poirier and Volkanovski were to lock horns, Poirier's pressure and inside boxing style could limit the effectiveness of Volkanovski's feinting and movement.

No matter what else happens, it would be hard to deny a title shot to the winner between these two.

Islam Makhachev

Makhachev is often painted as the third wheel in this division's title race after Oliveira and McGregor. Further, guys like Volkanovski and Poirier have much bigger name value. And third, Makhachev is good. Really good. It seems no one wants to touch the Dagestani with a 10-foot pole, given that he and his power wrestling are a threat to anyone and everyone in the division.

Volkanovski could fill the void, especially if the winner were guaranteed a title shot. This is also an intriguing matchup, with Makhachev's grappling posing a major test to Volkanovski's robust takedown defense. If Makhachev gets on top of you on the mat, it's typically curtains.

Justin Gaethje

No big deal. Just one of the biggest popcorn fights the UFC could make in any division. Gaethje is the wild card on this list, but that's just the way he likes it.

But this is more than surefire violence. How will Volkanovski's power translate to lightweight? How about his wrestling? How about his chin? Gaethje's strength, takedown defense and durability all would pose massive challenges for Volkanovski.

Conor McGregor

In April, Volkanovski told TMZ Sports that he was indeed interested in facing McGregor once the Irishman returns.

"Oh, yeah. … It's always going to interest a lot of people,” Volkanovski said. "It's always going to be a big fight. There's always going to be money. There's going to be a circus. It's going to be entertaining. It's going to be fun. I'll enjoy that whole f--king thing."

Keep in mind that a date between Oliveira and McGregor is not a fait accompli, no matter how badly Oliveira wants it. There's an argument to be made that Volk is a bigger name than Oliveira, and McGregor's power striking would make for a counterweight to Volkanovski's pressure and volume. Volkanovski has also shown a greater aptitude than Oliveira for playing the hype game—a critical component to facing McGregor.

Ultimately, money talks, and a Volkanovski-McGregor matchup may talk the loudest, regardless of whether a title is even on the line.

Fresh off an impressive win over Tony Ferguson at UFC 274 last month, Michael Chandler has his sights set on Conor McGregor.

In an interview with TMZ Sports (beginning at the 2:55 mark), Chandler discussed his desire to fight arguably the biggest star in UFC history:

"I would love the opportunity to compete against him," Chandler said. "If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, you know, I'm not going to lose sleep at night. But it's definitely the fight that I want."

Since a lengthy run in Bellator MMA that saw him hold the promotion's lightweight title three times, Chandler has made a strong transition to UFC.

Chandler is 2-2 under the UFC umbrella, beating Dan Hooker and Ferguson and losing to Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje, although the Gaethje fight went the distance and was named Fight of the Night.

With a career record of 23-7 with 11 knockouts and seven submissions, Chandler is a dangerous fighter and would undoubtedly pose a stiff challenge to McGregor.

The 33-year-old McGregor has already established himself as a UFC legend, having held the featherweight and lightweight titles, but success has eluded him in recent years.

After starting his career 19-2, McGregor has lost four of his past seven fights, three of his past four and two in a row.

McGregor fell to Dustin Poirier at both UFC 257 and 264, and the UFC 264 loss saw him suffer a broken leg that has kept him on the shelf for the past 11 months.

UFC president Dana White said this week that he is hopeful McGregor will return in late 2022 or early 2023 and a fight with Chandler is possible, as White said he "really likes" the idea of McGregor vs. Chandler.

If Chandler were to beat McGregor, he would likely find himself right back in the UFC lightweight title hunt.

It's been one year since Conor McGregor last fought, but UFC president Dana White is hopeful the Notorious One's sabbatical comes to an end soon.

Speaking to TMZ Sports, White said McGregor is "starting to ramp up his training" after breaking his leg in his last fight and hopes he can fight again by "the end of this year, early next year."

McGregor underwent surgery on July 11, hours after his fight with Dustin Poirier was stopped at the end of the first round when he tried to plant his left foot and his leg collapsed under him.

Just out of the surgery room guys! Surgery went excellent! Feeling tremendous! 6 weeks on crutch and we build back! Let’s go! God bless 🙏

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) July 12, 2021

In a statement released by his agent, Audie Attar, doctors said they were "confident" McGregor would "make a full recovery" and they "anticipate his return to the Octagon."

Speaking to SevereMMA (h/t MMAFighting.com) in February), McGregor said doctors told him in April he would be allowed to spar again, but he didn't provide a concrete timeline to fight again.

"Day by day, I feel better," he said. "They’re telling me to just take it easy, but I feel I can go, so I just need to kind of pull the reins back on my own self, so that’s kind of what I’m doing."

White said he was looking at Michael Chandler as McGregor's next opponent but noted "we'll see what the landscape looks like when Conor gets back."

Chandler snapped a two-fight losing skid on May 7 with a second-round TKO victory over Tony Ferguson at UFC 274.

Since defeating Jose Aldo to become the undisputed UFC featherweight champion in December 2015, McGregor has a 3-4 record in his last seven fights. He has lost each of his last two bouts, both to Poirier.

In addition to his mixed martial arts career, McGregor dabbled in boxing for a showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017. He lost the bout via TKO in the 10th round, but it was a massive financial success with 4.3 million pay-per-view buys.

Jorge Masvidal and Conor McGregor are quipping back and forth again.

Masvidal responded to McGregor calling him "stupid" by saying his UFC counterpart is "either too scared or too stupid" to agree to what would be "the biggest fight of your life."

After Conor McGregor called him "stupid," Jorge Masvidal fired back 😬 pic.twitter.com/ZsZSoMghPn

— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) May 31, 2022

This pea brain is the biggest fight of your life. So you’re either too scared or too stupid to get this check

— Jorge Masvidal (@GamebredFighter) May 31, 2022

Anton Tabuena of SB Nation noted McGregor previously said he doesn't plan on returning to the Octagon at 155 pounds after adding some weight, to which Masvidal responded to by suggesting he used steroids.

"He is fake," Masvidal told ESPN Deportes (h/t Tabuena). "He knows that I am a man who hits hard and that I come to kill. I don't come to hug in the cage. I'm going to give everything inside me to kill him.

"I'm a little bigger. Although now he's shooting up and putting steroids and all kinds of things, but he's still a little boy," he said.

Masvidal has lost three straight fights, with two coming against Kamaru Usman and one against Colby Covington. His last victory was in November 2019 against Nate Diaz.

McGregor lost his last two fights to Dustin Poirier and hasn't competed in the UFC since July 2021.