Now that his long-suffering Michael Chandler has moved on, Conor McGregor has a new dance partner in mind: Dan Hooker. ‘Hangman’ is ready to hang with the option to fight the consensus buyout star. All that remains between them and a striking clinic, Red Panty Night, is the go-ahead from the UFC brass.
Hooker had said he’d play “Catch the Connie” at Marbella, Spain, this past weekend, and he did. Hooker cornered ‘The Mac Life’ (@TheMacLife) Oscar Willis, McGregor’s MMA news outlet reporter — en route to a first-round TKO win in BKFC on DAZN: Spain. ‘The Notorious’ himself was also present for Willis’ bare-knuckle debut. That gave him a few opportunities to chop it up with the co-owner of the BKFC, McGregor.
We’re kindred spirits, as you can say, …we get along quite well — I think we’re both very similar. There’s a lot of similarities there. We just spoke in the ring, and yeah, I’m on board. He’s on board. We just need to get the UFC on board and we’ll get this thing across the line…
Dan ‘The Hangman’ Hooker to Denis Shkuratov for the ‘Submission Radio’ Show for SBNation Network (🎥: @SubmissionRadio on YT)
McGregor has already floated big news to the scrum on Saturday: a fight in Saudi Arabia on February 1st. As a prime ambassador for the extended Riyadh Season, it would be simple enough to get UFC’s No. 1 star back in the stack.
However, not on a Saudi Arabia Fight Night card, given the big PPV and gate star he is. The Team CityKickboxing NZ fighter also did tell MMA coverage reporter Helen Yee that realistically, January or March would be ideal because he and the missus are expecting.
How do you guys think this conversation ended? @TheNotoriousMMA @danthehangman #BKFCSpain pic.twitter.com/9CkX1aD1nr
— Helen Yee (@HelenYeeSports) October 12, 2024
👀Dan Hooker reveals he won’t be able to fight in February because his wife is expecting their daughter! This comes after Conor McGregor announced they’d be fighting on February 1st:
“I’m good to go January or March, the missus is due February so no can go, no can go”… pic.twitter.com/BeXhbvhkiu
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) October 14, 2024
McGregor only has two fights left on his current contract. The UFC may be slow-playing him for a contractual re-sign. Either way, they’d prefer to have two McGregor fights on offer while they hammer out a new multi-billion dollar broadcasting deal. Subsequently, a strike fest with Hooker will be easy to book on a numbered card elsewhere. All that’s needed is the go sign. Meanwhile, ‘Mac’ has some mentor-mentee roles in mind.
Conor McGregor mends fences with Sean O’Malley, after ‘Suga’ does the same
Former UFC bantamweight champ Sean O’Malley and two-division champ Conor McGregor have finally settled their long-running feud. ‘Notorious’ even went on track to offer to help train ‘Suga’ to ‘regain the gold. McGregor is yet to rebound in-ring after his 2021 TKO loss and has been veering to his MMA promoter roles.
O’Malley lost the 135-pound gold against wrestler-heavy attire at the Noche pay-per-view. Something McGregor knows all too well, submitting to it. While seeing him as a primebenefactor and following his blueprint at first, O’Malley did feud with him a little bit. This is when McGregor went off the rails on PED blame, along with one Ryan Garcia. However, the Team MMA LAB star has mended fences, and so has McGregor.
Sean is a fighting legend! UFC champion and an incredible superstar! I would love, love, love to see, and I can set it up fully, himself and his long time coach, Tim Welch, do a stint in Ireland. He has a shot at regaining it still for sure, but for himself, and also his coach to spend a good month, to begin with, not a long time, but a good solid month under coach Kav at SBG.
Conor McGregor via X (@TheNotoriousMMA)
🤝🇮🇪 Sean O’Malley squashed his beef with Conor McGregor.
“He [Conor McGregor] played an important role in my career. It’s always will be inspiration to me at some point… Right now I wouldn’t say he necessarily is… He has a big family now, a bunch of kids, and I hope he’s… pic.twitter.com/TWl7nuKDsM
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) October 13, 2024
Conor McGregor offers to help Sean O’Malley regain his UFC title 🤝
“Sean is a fighting legend!… A 4 week run at SBG Ireland under John’s coaching and I am telling you he would regain his title… I would love to see it!”#UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/TXcGfLbT8B
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) October 14, 2024
During his interview with FaZe Clan’s Swagg and Matcrackz on Episode 21 of the ‘Join The Lobby’ Podcast (@JOINTHELOBBYPODCAST), O’Malley wished for a “Connie comeback.” Squashing their beef, he mentioned how McGregor meant a lot to him and his career goals. To his credit, Team SBG Ireland’s top crop would match his demeanor and invite him for training.
McGregor said he would make his UFC return in February 2025 in Saudi Arabia in exclusive interviews last weekend. So his training him would fall somewhere near him entering active camp. O’Malley and coach Tim Welch are yet to respond to such an offer.
