Conor McGregor has compared himself to boxing legend Mike Tyson ahead of his UFC comeback fight this summer. McGregor has been out of action since breaking his leg in his trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier in July 2021, but is set to return this summer against Michael Chandler.
McGregor has received confirmation about his fight event and date, which is expected to be at UFC 303 on June 29 in Las Vegas to headline the promotion’s International Fight Week. And he claims he can relate to the way boxing legend Tyson felt when he made a return to the ring in November 2020 to fight fellow legend Roy Jones Jr.
‘Iron Mike’ is now gearing up for another one-off fight in the summer when he faces social media star Jake Paul despite their 30-year age gap. While McGregor has publicly criticised that fight and become embroiled in a war of words with Paul, his latest comparison with Tyson shows he still thinks favourably of the boxing icon.
“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.
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McGregor is aiming for three fights in 2024, including a boxing match with Manny Pacquiao. The Irishman has been inspired by his former UFC rival Jose Aldo, who returned to the sport after 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 said.
“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.”
