Sean O'Malley Questions if Conor McGregor Return Is "Beneficial" for UFC

Could the UFC be at odds with its biggest star?

Sean O'Malley has suggested that the UFC might be keeping Conor McGregor on the shelf until a lucrative opportunity for his return fight becomes available. 

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Anticipation for McGregor’s first appearance in the Octagon since 2021 appeared to wane somewhat following the conclusion of Season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter, but following news that the Irishman had reentered the USADA testing pool fan speculation quickly turned to when the former two-division champion may finally compete in 2024.

Rumors that “The Notorious” could headline UFC 300 have been disputed by his coach John Kavanagh, and following McGregor’s own claim that he's “losing patience” with the situation O’Malley provided an interesting suggestion for why the UFC apparently hasn’t offered its biggest star a fight yet.

McGregor coached the most recent season of The Ultimate Fighter opposite Michael Chandler.  / (Zuffa LLC)

“You know what’s crazy, is Conor is supposedly just begging for a fight,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel. “'Give me a fight, let me fight daddy'…I wonder if he’s making so much money per fight that it’s really just not that beneficial to the UFC. Like they’re losing money when he fights.”

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McGregor is undoubtedly the biggest PPV draw in UFC history, and even though his last victory came in 2020 at UFC 246 the general assumption among fans has been that the UFC is eager to get the Irishman back into the cage as soon as possible.

There’s no telling if there’s any truth to O’Malley’s speculation, but “Sugar” looks to be on track to become a significant PPV draw in his own right after he claimed the bantamweight belt from Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292.

The 29-year-old has previously stated that he’d love to appear on the same card as McGregor at some point, but for now he’s set to defend his title for the first time when he meets Marlon “Chito” Vera in a rematch that will serve as the main event of UFC 299 in March.

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