Having been one of the most active fighters on the UFC roster this year, Conor McGregor will be having a well-deserved rest.
The 28-year-old made UFC history last week when he defeated Eddie Alvarez inside two rounds to become the first fighter to hold two belts at the same time, adding the lightweight belt to the featherweight title he earned last December.
That fight was his fourth within the last twelve months, and his second since August, and Dana White has revealed that McGregor is now due to take an extended break while he awaits the birth of his first child.
Speaking to the LA Times, White suggested that McGregor’s girlfriend Dee Devlin’s stress levels are heightened when he is fighting, and as such he will look to remove that stress until at least May of next year.
White said:
“He won’t fight before May [2017].
“His girl gets super stressed out when he fights. He doesn’t want her having any of that stress while she’s pregnant.
“He’s good. He should take time off. He’s been fighting nonstop. Nothing wrong with him taking time off. It’s good for him and her and it’s good for the baby.”
White went on to state that while McGregor’s absence would be felt, particularly as it removes two belts from circulation for a number of months, there was no panic at management level within the UFC. He cited previous examples of fighters who, for one reason or another, left the roster (temporarily or otherwise) and insisted that the show will go on as normal:
“We’ve done this for 16 years, with a lot of big stars who couldn’t fight or moved on – Chuck Liddell, Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre.
“There’s not a day in this office I don’t get the question, ‘What are we going to do about this guy?’ Every day I turn around, I’ve got a reporter saying we’ve peaked.
“If I listened to any of that — we probably would be done.”
McGregor steps back from the spotlight just as another huge UFC personality returns, as former women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is due to make her long-awaited comeback against Amanda Nunes at 207 in Las Vegas on December 30th.
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Read More About: amanda nunes, conor mcgregor, dana white, Eddie Alvarez, jose aldo, ronda rousey, Top Story, UFC, ufc 205, ufc 207
