White: McGregor might not fight again, is what it is
Dana White: “This is the fight that he wanted, so we’re going to give it to him. And if this is the end of his career, then it is what it is.”
On April 6, 2013, att UFC on FUEL 9, the $60,000 Knockout of the Night performance bonus went to Irish featherweight Conor McGregor.
I didn’t have money before this… I was collecting 188 Euro (then $245) a week off the social welfare, said McGregor. And now here I am, with like 60 gees bonus and then my own pay. I don’t know what the f***s going on to be honest, right?
I’ll buy myself a car anyway. A nice car, maybe some suits or something. Custom made suits, I don’t know.”
On August 26 he may make $100,000,000. That’s 8,000 years of the welfare payments he was making. It’s a very real question if with $100,000,000 in the bank (less taxes), McGregor will be up for fighting a Khabib Nurmagomedov for $10-15 million.
McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh said recently that McGregor was motivated by challenge, not cash. However, UFC president Dana White spoke to reporters at Staples Center on the first stop of the four-day, three-country MayMac tour, and said maybe McGregor is done with MMA after this.
I had a bunch of guys who worked for us in the UFC and made a bunch of money and they’re gone now,” said White, as transcribed by Dave Doyle for MMA Fighting. “You know? You just don’t know, if he’s going to come in and make this kind of money, he might never fight again.”
That’s part of the deal, you know? This kid has done a lot for the sport, a lot for the company and this is the fight that he wanted, so we’re going to give it to him. And if this is the end of his career, then it is what it is.”
There is another possibility, one that McGregor has voiced explicitly. He will fight in the Octagon again, if he gets equity.