Conor McGregor Isn’t Just Fighting for Money: ‘I Am Doing It For the Love of It’

If Conor McGregor walks away from fighting any time soon, it won’t be due to the amount of money he’s earned on any of his recent paychecks.

The 29-year old Irishman is already sitting on enough money to live comfortably for the rest of his life and that’s hy McGregor is making it clear that his reasons for fighting go beyond just monetary gain.

Instead, McGregor insists that he fights because he loves it and while the money is nice, the only concerns that would drive him away from combat sports would be somehow losing his will to compete or if health issues because too much to ignore.

“It is not necessarily a money thing for me. I am passionate about fighting. Fighting is what I love to do. I will continue to do it as long as I am healthy and willing to put in the work that it takes to do,” McGregor said when speaking to

“I will not be stupid though. I will not notice things about myself and then continue to do it like many others before me. It is a dangerous, ruthless business and I am aware of that. Thankfully I am in a position of great wealth. I do not need to do it. I am doing it for the love of it. I will make my decision when the time comes.”

McGregor has spoken in the past about concerns regarding brain damage suffered from fighting and how he will never sacrifice his own health to continue competing in mixed martial arts or boxing.

As he prepares to celebrate the holidays with his family — including his infant son Conor Jr. — McGregor knows that fighting can’t last forever and that’s why the end of his career will happen before he suffers any long term effects from his profession.

“I always look at the end from a damage-taken standpoint,” McGregor said. “How much damage have I taken? How is my brain? How is my mental health? How is my physical body? How is my training? How is my preparation? How is my hunger for it?

“That is where I gauge how long I will do it and there is still a lot left in me.”

That will be music to the ears of the brass at the UFC, who have been wondering when or if McGregor would ever return to the Octagon after reportedly earning around $100 million for his boxing match this summer against Floyd Mayweather.

Of course money may not be the reason McGregor fights, that doesn’t mean he will fight for peanuts. McGregor is currently embroiled in negotiations with the UFC on a lucrative new deal to get him back in action in 2018.