Sean O’Malley Speculates Reason Behind Delay in Conor McGregor’s Return

Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight champ Sean O'Malley has suggested that financial obstacles may be the reason for Conor McGregor’s absence.

Former two-division champ McGregor has been inactive since July 2021, when he suffered a broken leg in a trilogy match against Dustin Poirier. While he recently returned to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA) testing pool, “Notorious” has yet to be booked for his return to the Octagon. McGregor expressed his frustration on Saturday with the delay in his return, and even teased another shift to boxing.

O’Malley, on his podcast “TimboSugarShow” on Monday, pontificated whether another McGregor fight makes financial sense for the UFC. He suggested the kind of deal they might have with the Irishman, Forbes’ highest-earning athlete in 2021, could be restrictive or detrimental for the UFC.

“You know what’s crazy is Conor is supposedly just begging for a fight,” O’Malley remarked. “‘Give me a fight. Let me fight, daddy.’ Conor says his patience is wearing thin over UFC inactivity. I wonder if he’s making so much money per fight that it’s really just not that beneficial to the UFC, like they’re losing money when he fights. I wonder if his deal is structured in a way where it’s like, ‘f*ck.'”

While McGregor starred opposite Michael Chandler as rival coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show earlier this year, with an expected matchup in the future, the Irishman has since called out multiple other opponents. On an appearance at “Steve-O’s Wild Ride! Podcast,” Chandler stated that the former double champ might try to “wait him out” in an attempt to draw an “easier” opponent like Nate Diaz.

Meanwhile, O’Malley’s star power has also recently come into question. The bantamweight champ’s last opponent, Aljamain Sterling, claimed he was unimpressed with the pay-per-view figures of their UFC 292 clash, despite “Sugar” being touted as one of the biggest stars in the sport today. Sterling will be moving up to 145 pounds to fight Calvin Kattar at UFC 300, while O’Malley is planning to defend his throne against Marlon Vera atop UFC 299 in March.