KSI is no stranger to set up a marquee boxing match, but he thought he was probably approaching the deal for the biggest fight in the sport, hoping to bring Conor McGregor back into the ring.
Social influencers were becoming combat sports enthusiasts and were about to set up a fight with McGregor on Alcatraz Island near San Francisco, but the Irish superstar eventually took over the opportunity. McGregor previously addressed the occasion, not naming KSI as his opponent when dealing with a potential return to action in March.
“I’m happy with what I did,” McGregor said. “I’ve had opportunities and deals to fight only at Alcatraz these days. I have an event happening at Alcatraz in June. And they came to me and it wasn’t worth it.”
Addressing the proposed matchup, KSI claims that he has never heard for sure why McGregor actually took part in the fight, but he also knows that the previous two divisions of UFC champions are going on outside of combat sports.
“We started the fight and Connor said no,” KSI said on the Misfits Boxing YouTube channel after the latest event in the promotion. “I don’t know, it could be money, it could be his way of thinking. That could be a lot of reasons.
“To be honest, I don’t think he knows what to do the next day. He’s everywhere. At one moment he wants to be Ireland’s prime minister, and then he wants to do a random side quest.
There have been many questions about whether McGregor would compete again, especially after he dropped out of his fight with Michael Chandler in 2024 due to a broken toe. After that fight collapsed, McGregor has mainly focused on building BKFC as one of the co-owners of the naked knuckle promotion, becoming president of Ireland.
Even UFC CEO Dana White has questioned the possibility that McGregor will return when he said he doesn’t expect the 36-year-old fighter to compete again “anytime.”
McGregor’s future in combat seems suspicious, but KSI has promised he will return to the ring and work hard, but the injury will continue to stand by him in the near future.
He had previously planned a fight with Dillon Danis in March, but was dropped from the fight due to illness.
Now, KSI says he is suffering from a hand injury that demands him undergo surgery before preparing to return to the ring.
“For me, I want to fight again,” KSI said. “I just need to hold my hands in place. I told the audience, I told a lot of people, I can’t punch. Every time I press my index finger, it hurts. I’ve had this injury for about a year.
“I’m going to get surgery now for me, sort it out, then slowly get rehab, then slowly get rehab, knocking people out of there, then you can go from there and then you can have a big fight again.