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There is mounting speculation that Conor McGregor is set to jump from the octagon to the squared circle, as his recent announcement that he’s retiring from UFC has been followed with a cryptic message from his manager suggesting that the fighter will join WWE.
McGregor announced his retirement on Twitter, though considering he was set to face Nate Diaz in a bank-rolling rematch at UFC 200, it was thought that the MMA star was teasing his fans. However, it was later announced by UFC President Dana White that McGregor had been pulled from the upcoming fight, after failing to attend promotional events in Las Vegas. White added that while he didn’t know whether or not McGregor was officially retiring, the Irishman was in Iceland training and had therefore refused to attend press conferences and film promotional material for the fight.
I have decided to retire young.
Thanks for the cheese.
Catch ya’s later.— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) April 19, 2016
With McGregor’s shocking retirement announcement now looking more likely, McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh posted a photograph of former pro wrestling manager Jimmy Hart to Instagram, alongside the caption: “New job uniform.”
Following McGregor’s announcement, Irish WWE Superstar Becky Lynch sent the fighter the following message:
.@TheNotoriousMMA #ComeJoinMeBro
— Becky Lynch (@BeckyLynchWWE) April 19, 2016
This also follows McGregor having followed a number of WWE personalities on Twitter, including the company’s Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon and the Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events, & Creative Paul “Triple H” Levesque.
If McGregor were to join WWE, then such a deal would take months to come to fruition given that the MMA star would likely have to wait for his contract with UFC to expire, and would then need to train alongside the pro wrestling company for an extended period of time before he debuts While McGregor joining the WWE would likely see him taking a pay cut compared to the money he would have received working in the UFC, the WWE may have offered him a limited contract wherein he will only make a few select appearances per year, similar to the contract the company shares with former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar. This could potentially earn him a lot of money for a minimal amount of work.
It should also be considered that McGregor lost his last match with the UFC, and with the company rewarding fighters based upon their performance, the fighter may have felt that his role as the top-drawing star was under threat. In that case, signing a deal with another company such as the WWE ensures that he retains his star power, giving him more clout to negotiate a higher paying contract.
While it hasn’t been officially confirmed that McGregor is retiring, and with these links to WWE being purely speculative at this point, McGregor joining the WWE would be a huge coup for the company given its declining ratings and stock prices. With Lesnar currently being the highest-drawing star in the WWE, having UFC’s most well-known fighter outside of Ronda Rousey join their ranks would provide a huge boost to the product.
