Rich and famous McGregor returns to shut up rival

Most lucrative in UFC history

LAS VEGAS – The last time Conor McGregor was in a UFC cage, he was merely the biggest star in the history of mixed martial arts.

In the 23 months since, the loquacious Irishman has become exponentially richer and much more famous. With his boxing loss to Floyd Mayweather as the catalyst, McGregor has ascended to a new level of stardom and success outside MMA and outside sports.

Even UFC President Dana White wondered whether McGregor (21-3) would decide to fight on, but he did.

 McGregor returns to the octagon at UFC 229 on Saturday night to fight lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (26-0) in a Las Vegas arena full of boisterous Irish fans. The pay-per-view show could be the most-watched and most lucrative in the UFC’s history, according to both White and the former two-belt champion at the center of it all.

“I came back for the love of this,’’ McGregor said. “To come back and shut this man up.’’

McGregor’s mere presence sells a fight these days, even when that presence has been limited. The UFC did strikingly little overt promotion of this bout, limiting McGregor’s public appearances to a combative news conference in New York and a handful of outings in Vegas – all of which McGregor used to promote his new whiskey venture.

“He can say what he wants,’’ Nurmagomedov said. “When a drunk guy talks, no one listens.’’

Yet the fighters’ faces are everywhere this week, their artificially colored eyes glaring from the official fight posters at bars and club across the world. UFC 229 has entered the public consciousness largely because of McGregor’s magnetism, and it seems likely to become the best-selling pay-per-view event in the promotion’s history. White is optimistic it will challenge the world’s biggest boxing events in total sales.