'Going to retire': Islam Makhachev says Conor McGregor will retire from UFC if loses again

Islam Makhachev, who on Sunday will come out to defend his Lightweight Championship at UFC 284, has shared his thoughts on Conor McGregor's Return. Makhachev will fight the Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski in champion vs champion encounter. The fight will main event the UFC 284.

With only a couple of days remaining before the UFC 284 comes into force, the UFC Lightweight Champion in a press conference his laid his thoughts on various topics. Besides the questions on his preparation ahead of the fight against Alexander Volkanovski, the fighter was also asked to give his views on much-anticipated return of the Notorious one. To this he said that McGregor's fight against Michael Chandler could turn out to his last in UFC.

'McGregor is going to retire for sure': Islam Makhachev ahead of UFC 284

“It’s a good fight for MMA fans, but if Chandler wins, [McGregor] is going to retire for sure,” Makhachev said. “Make some good money and that’s it. But Chandler, so smart guy, because I saw his last couple fights, he fights like crazy, like he comes from the street.

“But now I understand why he did this, because if he beat [Dustin] Poirier and [Justin] Gaethje, this fight never happens. But the last four fights, they have same streak, they lose three times, that’s why this fight is happening. And for Conor, he chooses a good way too. He chooses small guy, 170 [pounds], and finally someone is going to win.”

Islam Makhachev believes Conor McGregor will retire with a loss to Michael Chandler 😬 #UFC284

"Conor every day retires and every day comes back to Twitter. I don’t know.” pic.twitter.com/SSnJP7AcqX

— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) February 9, 2023

The fighter from Dagestan, who accompanied former Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov to the press event and in the ring at UFC 229 shares a spiteful history against Conor McGregor, who at the event was Nurmagomedov's opponent. Islam Makhachev is apparently focused for his first title defense and has already claimed that he wants to "Knock" his opponent out. “Every second, I’m going to try to finish him,” Makhachev said. “But my goal? I want to knock him out.”