I think Conor might be gone for good after. He even said so much years ago, something along the lines of 'I will become a two weight world champion and then I'm gone'. He may have gone for three belts simultaneously had he not encountered Nate and the laws of physics. He kept on talking after 202 about "he's a big boy...had 0 pounds on me in there" - and to take a page out of the Mac Book, 'that was doubt seeping in". People are simply creatures of habit: he won two belts in Cage Warriors and then retired with no defenses, sighting fear of brain damage, until the UFC called.
Also as Dana says, when you think about retiring, you are done. Fighters that make his kinda money in MMA, like GSP, dont have to fight at the frequency of other starving fighters (this is how UFC is able to put on the best fight the best, because they get paid horribly). And why go thru the most intense training every day, get cracked in the head everyday, worry your family, especially when you have other options where you can make just as much, igf not more money?
He needs to be the first one to hold two belts simultaneously to seal his legacy as GOAT in his brain: something BJ, GSP, Andy, Bones and Fedor never did. Sure we may not agree, especially with 0 defenses but it has never been about what we think but is about what Conor thinks. I think he's possibly gone for good if he wins