Conor McGregor’s camp hold high hopes the UFC star will return to the octagon this year, as they seek an opponent that truly excites the former two-division champion.
McGregor, still the biggest draw in the sport, has not competed since July 2021, when he lost his trilogy bout to Dustin Poirier after breaking his leg towards the conclusion of the opening round in Las Vegas.
The former champion at featherweight and lightweight, the first athlete in the UFC to hold two belts simultaneously, had lost to Poirier six months earlier in Abu Dhabi, meaning he has won once in his past four appearances in the promotion.
McGregor, 34, is expected to make his long-awaited comeback sometime this year, but as of yet nothing has been confirmed.
On Monday in an interview on The MMA Hour, long-time head coach John Kavanagh said of McGregor’s 2023 return: “I’d be willing to bet my house on it. I was actually just chatting with him yesterday or the day before, and then [McGregor’s manager] Audie [Attar of Paradigm Sports] was in town.
“Yeah, I think there’s some interesting negotiations going along now. I absolutely can’t say anything beyond that, but I’m very, very confident that we’ll see Conor back in the octagon this year.”
No matter McGregor’s recent record, or his long recovery from injury, his next bout will be sure to garner significant attention. He should have no shortage of high-profile potential opponents, with Michael Chandler, Charles Oliveira, Justin Gaethje and Tony Ferguson among those to have called him out.
Also, a money-spinning trilogy clash with free-agent Nate Diaz would hold obvious appeal to the sport.
But Kavanagh said: “I’m asked this so often and I have to be honest when I say I really don’t mind. What matters to me is that, let’s say I’m seeing Conor this week and we’re chatting and he says a few names and I see a name particularly gets the eyes open, particularly gets his pacing up and down the living room and showing me what he’s going to do and what he’s not going to do.
"That would be absolutely the most important thing for me: that it’s a name that’s going to excite him.
“Because for Conor, for training for this next fight, he’s definitely got to find something that’s massively motivating to him to get him out of the silk pants and into the sweaty gym. What’s it going to be? A couple million more [in earnings]? Is that really going to motivate him? I don’t think so.
"He has a couple championship belts. Is that it? I don’t think so. So I think it’s more going to be a particular opponent, a particular skill set and how it matches up against him.”
Kavanagh added: “You’ve got the great Nate Diaz is obviously in there. Justin Gaethje would be a very interesting match-up - somebody he hasn’t fought before. The Poirier fight, we’ve done that so many times at this stage [the American sits 2-1 up in the rivalry] and it’s just a weird one.
“Michael Chandler: a great fighter, a great athlete. They’re all brilliant. They’re all going to bring something different to the contest.
“What I would be looking for would be the one name that gets Conor moving, gets him off his stool, gets him moving around and gets him excited. Some of the names I’ve heard him mention it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, I’d fight him’.
“But if I see that level of lack of interest, I’d be nervous that won’t get him through 12 weeks of being in a very tough environment. Where if it’s a name that is exciting, then training is fun and training is easy.”
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Rosewood and Transparent — heart issues
24: Legacy — PTSD;
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Taken and This Is Us — cancer
Trial & Error — cognitive disorder prosopagnosia (facial blindness and dyslexia)
Grey’s Anatomy — prosthetic leg
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
