Conor McGregor is set to return to the Octagon next weekend and the anticipation of his rematch with Dustin Poirier is starting to rise ahead of UFC 257 on Fight Island.
While MMA fans are excited, few will be as eager to see the Irishman as much as McGregor himself.
In 2020, “The Notorious” kicked off what was meant to be his season of fights that year with a commanding, violent knockout victory over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.
However, after the coronavirus pandemic hit, McGregor sat the rest of the year out and was left frustrated by the UFC bosses after not being offered any fights. So much so, the Dubliner posted private messages between him and UFC President Dana White on social media to show how he was trying to secure fights in the Octagon only to be rebuffed.
One conversation saw McGregor request a matchup with UFC veteran Digeo Sanchez, only have that contest turned down by White. This, understandably, irked White and it looked like the relationship between him and McGregor had been publicly soured.
“We were in a really bad place then, I was really upset,” White told ESPN earlier this week. “It wasn’t because he put out private messages. We were talking about another fighter. And I like Diego Sanchez. I have a lot of respect for Diego Sanchez. I care about Diego Sanchez. I talked to Diego face-to-face about it, and being the great human being he is, we’re all good.
“I was really upset with Conor, but we fixed that and now we’re all good.”
McGregor himself has been talking to the media for the first time since his Cerrone fight almost a year ago.
The 32-year-old spoke to Oscar Willis, of his own media outlet The Mac Life, and echoed White’s words, confirming that the pair had patched things up and how he is focused to kick on with an active fight year in 2021 like he wanted last year.
“There were pockets of the year where we were at loggerheads, if you will, but this is high-pressure, high-stakes business,” McGregor said. “When you’ve got an Irishman looking for a fight, you better give him one, or it may be you that’s involved in the fight.
“All is good. We hashed it out, we said our piece, and we’re in a great spot now, and I’m very excited to come back now for the company and kickstart it in a major way.”