Ultimate Fighting Championship

Conor McGregor's coach responds to questions about potential retirement

Published Mar. 29, 2017 4:44 p.m. ET

Damon Martin

Conor McGregor has enough money in the bank that he could retire tomorrow and live comfortably for the rest of his life.

The UFC lightweight champion could potentially double his worth with one fight against Floyd Mayweather if the proposed boxing match comes together for later this year.

Despite the gaudy amounts of money McGregor is making, his head coach John Kavanagh refutes the idea that a big payday against Mayweather would send the 28-year old Irishman into retirement.

“Like any sport, there’s a sell-by date. But Conor is 28, he’s a baby in the sport," Kavanagh told the Irish Mirror this week. “I look at Bernard Hopkins who’s 50, winning world title fights so Conor isn’t going anywhere soon."

McGregor certainly loves making money and he seemingly enjoys spending it just as much, but that's not the only thing that motivates him to stick around the sport.

McGregor is a competitor who set goals for himself on the first day he stepped into the Octagon and thus far he's achieved all of them.

Now with a possible match against Mayweather this year, McGregor could shock the world again if he could find a way to defeat the 49-0 boxer, who is largely considered the best fighter of his generation.

There are those who believe McGregor is pursuing the Mayweather fight to earn the biggest paycheck of his life and while money absolutely plays a part in it, there's also a part of him who wants to climb yet another mountain that people say he could never conquer.

If there's any question about McGregor's dedication to his craft, Kavanagh shared a story about the aftermath of his 2015 knockout over former featherweight champion Jose Aldo.

Despite knocking Aldo out in just 13 seconds, Kavanagh says that McGregor still found a ton of flaws in the victory and he received a written note just days later that broke down all the mistakes he made.

“I always use this story that when Conor beat Aldo to unify the 145 [pound title], he argues it was an 11 second fight but it was 13 seconds on the record book, one punch and it was over," Kavanagh explained.

“But he’s the most self-critical fighter I’ve ever met, and that night we went out for a bit and when we came home he wrote me an essay on everything he’d done wrong. It was only a 13 second fight.”

Now it appears Mayweather will be the next puzzle for McGregor to solve but even after he's through with that it doesn't appear he'll be going anywhere but back to the gym to prepare for his next fight.

When McGregor's career finally does reach its conclusion, Kavanagh says the entire world will pay attention because he expects the outspoken UFC champion to vanish like a ghost into his private life far away from the spotlight.

“I predict once he’s done in the sport he will disappear," Kavanagh said. "People think he likes the limelight, he doesn’t. He just likes fighting and promoting fights."