Conor McGregor draws inspiration from Mike Tyson as he gears up for his UFC comeback this summer. He, a UFC icon, has been sidelined since fracturing his leg in a trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier in July 2021. However, he’s primed for a return against Michael Chandler, with confirmation of his fight event and date.
The bout is slated for UFC 303 on June 29 in Las Vegas, headlining the promotion’s International Fight Week.
Reflecting on his comeback, McGregor parallels his journey with that of boxing legend Mike Tyson, who returned to the ring in November 2020 to face Roy Jones Jr. Despite a 30-year age difference, Tyson is gearing up for another bout this summer against social media sensation Jake Paul.
He asserts he empathizes with Tyson’s sentiments upon returning to the ring in November 2020 to battle fellow legend Roy Jones Jr. ‘Iron Mike’ now readies for another one-off fight this summer against social media star Jake Paul, despite their 30-year age gap.
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“It’s my life, it’s what I love to do. I’m doing this forever, I’ll be recalibrating my competition. I relate to when Mike Tyson fought Roy Jones Jr. He was retired for so long and was asked ‘What do you think Cus D’Amato would say to you now you’re coming back?’ and he said Cus would say ‘What took you so long?’ That gave me goose pimples all over my body,” McGregor said on The MMA Hour.
Conor McGregor, who hasn’t secured a victory in over four years, aims to compete in three fights in 2024, culminating with a boxing bout against Manny Pacquiao.
Drawing motivation from his former UFC rival Jose Aldo, McGregor is set to step back into the cage in May, despite Aldo retiring just 18 months ago.
“We can become mentally fatigued, you hear about that post-fight that depression can kick in. I feel like it’s more like mental fatigue, you just kept a little bit more fed up.
Look at Jose Aldo now! Great to see him back, I was actually taken back that he did retire when he did, he was a contester for a title,” he added.
“From where I was looking, he was very unlucky to not scoop the title. He fought that champions and I wonder whether was it a business play that didn’t play out for him? Was he trying to press for something more and then they just let him walk away? Now he’s back and I’m excited to see it.”