Morning Report: Conor McGregor willing to serve as co-main event for the UFC, on one condition

By Jed Meshew @JedKMeshew

On Monday, we wrote about Conor McGregor saying he was in negotiations with the UFC about returning for a fight in July. Now, we have a pretty good idea what those negotiations involve.

After his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229, McGregor was rumored to be fighting Donald Cerrone upon his NAC mandated suspension for his role in the UFC 229 brawl. But earlier this month, Cerrone said that the bout had essentially been nixed because the UFC wanted to have it as a co-main event for a Pay-Per-View, instead of as the headliner and McGregor wouldn’t do it. Well, that’s not entirely accurate.

Speaking with fans in Chicago over the weekend (video courtesy of Mike Pendleton and BJPenn.com), McGregor revealed that he would be fine with serving as the co-main event, or even on the undercard, so long as the UFC gave him his rightful shares in the company.

“I’m ready to fight,” McGregor said. “I’ve said that, no problem. If the UFC wants me to slide into that co-main event and help, what that is, me sliding into the co-main event, it’s boosting their brand over fighter rhetoric that they have. There’s no problem with that. But if they want me to push that – and I have no problem pushing that – give me my rightful shares in the UFC company. That’s all I ask. You can put me on the first fight of ESPN+, no problem. So let’s see how it goes.”

McGregor has been pushing for an equity stake in the UFC since becoming the promotion’s first ever simultaneous two-division champion. The night he won the lightweight title, McGregor began calling for shares in the company saying that with the WME-IMG purchase of the UFC, a number of celebrities became minority owners in the company without doing nearly as much for its success as he had and that he deserves to be brought into the fold. Then, after his superfight with Floyd Mayweather, McGregor once again lobbied for partnership in the UFC as a precondition of returning.

While he didn’t quite get what he was asking for, McGregor did ultimately get a new, six-fight deal with the UFC that included an official sponsorship deal for McGregor’s Proper 12 whiskey, including putting it on the UFC canvas. But after serving as the A side for by far the biggest PPV in UFC history, McGregor is back to chasing the equity he feels he deserves, and at this point, it’s getting harder to deny him. McGregor is responsible for five of the six highest-selling UFC PPVs ever. If any fighter deserves equity in the company, it’s him, but the UFC has been adamantly against setting that kind of precedent.

Expect to see the UFC promoting Conor’s “August McGregor” clothing line for his next UFC event.