Throughout the course of 2017, conflicting reports continue to emerge regarding the status of a potential Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather fight. While reports have begun to slow down, McGregor himself recently revealed to media members at the Madison Square Garden that a fight between he & Mayweather was “very” close. In addition, the lightweight champ promised to shock the boxing world when he and Mayweather step into the ring together.

In the meantime, UFC lightweight contender Tony Ferguson has called for McGregor to relinquish his UFC championship if he intends to pursue a scrap with Floyd Mayweather. While McGregor of course likely will not vacate the lightweight title at the present time, his teammate Gunnar Nelson believes that McGregor may never return to the UFC. He spoke to ESPN:

“It will depend on certain things. Money is not the only thing he cares about, at all. He does care about it a lot, but if a fight excites him and he thinks it’s a great challenge — if it’s making history and all that kind of stuff — he’ll do it.”

“He needs to keep himself busy in some way, because he’s a pretty hyper guy,” Nelson laughed. “He’s not just sitting around the house. If he wouldn’t have anything to do, he’d probably be up to no good. He’ll always figure something out. He needs excitement.”

When Nelson asked if he thought McGregor would take a year off between his UFC 205 win over Eddie Alvarez in November, and a potential Mayweather scrap, he responded:

“He’s got a lot of money now that keeps him occupied,” Nelson said. “He can do a lot of stuff. I think he’d be all right for a year. He always has something cooking. Right now, it’s the Mayweather fight, and that seems like it’s going to happen. I think he’ll keep himself busy one way or another.”

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 4/4/2017.