ATLANTA – Conor McGregor’s manager, Audie Attar, thinks his client is one win away from fighting to regain the UFC lightweight title.
Attar, the head of Paradigm Sports Management, sees McGregor’s (22-5 MMA, 10-3 UFC) trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier (27-6 MMA, 19-5 UFC) at UFC 264 on July 10 as a defining matchup for the UFC lightweight division. The bout will comes less than two months after Charles Oliveira meets Michael Chandler for the vacant 155-pound strap at UFC 262 on May 15, and Attar expects the winners of the two fights to clash.
“I think that only makes sense,” Attar told MMA Junkie. “I think this truly becomes a No. 1 contender fight. I think Chandler vs. Oliveira happens and the winner of that faces the winner of McGregor vs. Poirier 3.”
Although there are significant repercussions that come with the McGregor vs. Poirier 3 fight, it’s meaningless for McGregor unless he gets his hand raised. McGregor lost the second bout at UFC 257 in January by second-round TKO, and he’s been keen on the rematch.
Attar said he’s seen a fire in McGregor stemming from that result, and he’s driven to win the tiebreaker.
“At this stage in Conor’s career, he’s proven to people that he’s one of the greatest of all time,” Attar said. “He’s proven to himself what he’s wanted to accomplish up to this date. He’s such a competitor that he wants more. He can never fight in his life again and be so proud of himself and everything he’s accomplished inside the octagon and outside the octagon as an entrepreneur and philanthropist. It’s about trying to challenge himself as a real fighter would, and I think coming off a loss which is now square up at 1-1, it’s only right to turn it around and take him on a trilogy.
“We were offered a handful of other options and opportunities and opponents, but Conor was steadfast in saying no because he wanted to challenge himself and make sure he proves to the world that he is one of the greatest of all time – and he will get the better end of this trilogy on July 10.”
Not only will McGregor and Poirier – who were the first men to knock each other out in MMA competition – fight with high stakes on the line, but they’ll do it in the UFC’s return in front of fans in Nevada. T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas sold out in minutes for UFC 264, and Attar said the stage is set for a big showdown.
“The one thing about Conor McGregor is it’s not all about wins and losses,” Attar said. “It’s about the journey. … He constantly wakes up motivated each and every day to continue to evolve, to continue to learn – not only from all the great things that have happened in his career athletically and from a business perspective, but also just wanting to also evolve and grow and not live in the past with anything we do, whether it’s his athletic career or business ventures.”
“It’s a huge fight for the sport. I think that the fans, the fighters, all the different stakeholders are just so excited about this opportunity to square it up and see who is truly is going to be the better fighter – not only of the night, but of the trilogy.”
Audie Attar: Conor McGregor fighting Chandler-Oliveira winner ‘only makes sense’ with UFC 264 win
