Conor Mcgregor has vowed that he will indeed return to the octagon later this year despite previous reports speculating that the current UFC Lightweight champion was done with the sport.
Mcgregor who has been the subject of widespread criticism from fans and fellow UFC fighters, has not fought since his historic victory over Eddie Alvarez in 2016.
However ‘The Notorious’ who was last seen fighting Floyd Mayweather in a lucrative boxing match, came out to silence his critics on Thursday by stating that he will indeed return to the octagon later this year.
Mcgregor who pocketed in the region of €100m in the Mayweather crossover fight, also insisted that he was more than willing to fight Frankie Edgar at UFC 222 this March, but instead claimed the UFC knocked back his suggestion to replace Max Holloway who was forced to pull out due to injury.
In a statement on his Instagram account on Thursday Mcgregor told his followers that he is eager to return to were he belongs and he will do so in 2018.
The statement reads as follows: “I am fighting again. Period. I am the best at this. I put my name forward to step in at UFC 222 to face Frankie Edgar when Max Holloway pulled out, but I was told there wasn’t enough time to generate the money that the UFC would need.”
“I was excited about bouncing in last minute and taking out the final featherweight, without all the rest of the stuff that comes with this game.”
“Please respect the insane amount of work outside the fight game that I have put in. On top of the fighting. I am here. It is on them to come and get me. Because I am here. Yours sincerely, The Champ Champ.”