Dan Hooker would like to see Conor McGregor close out his career in the ring.
McGregor (22-7 MMA, 10-5 UFC) injured his right knee just 69 seconds into his rematch against Max Holloway (28-9 MMA, 24-9 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 329 headliner at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He is set to undergo surgery for what is suspected to be a torn ACL.
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With McGregor sustaining another injury after a five-year layoff from a broken left leg, Hooker wonders if his body can handle competing in MMA anymore. He sees boxing as a better option for “The Notorious.”
“I feel like we’re just as excited to see Conor McGregor box one of these big-name guys for $100 million as we were before that fight,” Hooker told Submission Radio. “To force him to squeeze out one more MMA fight where maybe his body can’t – obviously boxing is a very difficult sport, but it’s far less taxing all over on your body. I feel like boxers sustain a lot more head trauma than MMA fighters do, just the bigger gloves and just the duration of you’re fighting 12 three-minute rounds with the cushioned gloves.
“I feel like they sustain a lot more head trauma, but I feel like all over the body, MMA’s obviously a lot more taxing on your joints, and you get like niggly on all your ligaments and your knees, and you’ve got your back and your neck, and there’s a lot more different places to get fatigued and get injured. So, it’s just coming to a point now where maybe his body can’t hold up in the MMA space, and they should just let him box and earn some crazy money in his last couple of years of fighting.”
Prior to fighting Holloway, McGregor was asked about the possibility of rematching Floyd Mayweather, who finished him by Round 10 TKO in August 2017.
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“Yeah, for sure (I’m interested),” McGregor told TMZ Sports. “There’s conversations ongoing always with the boy. That’s the truth. So, I’m open for it.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Dan Hooker suggests Conor McGregor pivot to boxing to end career
