Audie Attar insists Conor McGregor’s drive hasn’t wavered.
Despite all the success, money and accolades McGregor has achieved, which includes a crossover boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, his manager and business partner Attar says he still has a lot more that he wants achieve.
McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) became the UFC’s first dual-champion and has sold more pay-per-views than any fighter in UFC history. Although his recent results in the octagon haven’t been his best, “The Notorious” isn’t ready for his last MMA memory to be one of him getting stretchered out of the cage.
So what drives McGregor these days? Attar says the answer is simple.
“First and foremost, he loves this sport,” Attar told MMA Junkie. “I think that’s the one thing that’s very special about him. It’s why it’s allowed him to reach a level of success that most fighters aspire to achieve. He loves it. The second part is he’s a competitor.
“Does he have more ambitions and goals that he wants to achieve? Absolutely. I think that’s what makes it so special and so intriguing and it’s going to be an interesting story, and I do believe it’s going to be the greatest comeback in sports history.”
McGregor broke his leg in a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021. Attar sees no point in McGregor rushing his return after such a gruesome injury, but when he does make his projected comeback in 2023, he knows his star client won’t be short of options.
Ex-lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, who meets Islam Makhachev for the vacant title in the UFC 280 headliner, still is eyeing McGregor, which doesn’t surprise Attar.
“I mean, Conor said it best: It’s red panty night when you fight him,” Attar said. “So at the end of the day, I don’t think it’s changed. The color of the panties haven’t changed. So ultimately, I think a lot of the fighters want that. They want that payday, but they also want that experience to be able to say that they fought Conor McGregor. They all aspire to win that fight, and so that’s a normal thing. I don’t think anybody’s shocked by that.”
