Ultimate Fighting Championship chief Dana White is not so
certain that Conor
McGregor will ever fight again.
Speaking with Complex News, the UFC President and CEO
discussed a myriad of topics ranging from the oft-discussed UFC
White House card to the state of a few divisions—and even briefly
shrugged off a question about YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul.
White did not have many definitive answers, mostly suggesting that
upcoming events need to play out to determine who faces whom, when
and where.
Advertisement
Of note was a pair of questions about superstar McGregor, who has
been on the shelf since breaking his leg in his unsuccessful rubber
match with Dustin
Poirier in 2021. The Irishman, who has since gotten married and
also been the subject of many legal quagmires ranging from being
found liable for sexual assault to ongoing investigations about
striking various individuals, was once booked for a 2024 match with
Michael
Chandler that fell through. The two served as coaches on the
31st season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” and a foot injury for
McGregor knocked him out of that pairing.
While Chandler has since gone on to fight twice more since that
canceled bout, he has always sought the McGregor match, regularly
calling out “Notorious” and even suggesting at the beginning of the
year that the fight was going to happen. White disagreed.
“No, that was a couple years ago,” White answered dismissively
about the prospective McGregor-Chandler clash. He reiterated that
despite McGregor’s pleas to be part of that event against “Iron
Mike,” there is no plan for them to collide.
We’ll See How It Plays Out
“We’ll see if Conor is going to come back or not,” White noted.
“We’ve been talking about it for a while. We’ll see how it plays
out. I don’t know, though.
White was clear when discussing the White House event that there
have been no steps taken for matchmaking, as it is still around
five months away. He pitched that the logistics have been figured
out, but the rest is a long way out.
“Nothing yet,” White replied when asked if there was anything on
the UFC White House marquee yet. “So we literally just got all the
logistics done. [There’s] gonna be 5,000 seats in the South Lawn.
Fighters will walk from the Oval Office. We got all that s–t
dialed in. Now, Jan. 23 is Zuffa Boxing, Jan. 24 is the first UFC,
and then after that card we’ll start working on the White House
fights.”
He mentioned that there are some reliable fighters worth placing on
the card, and stressed that he needs fighters—especially at the
championship level—that he can count on to make it to the event and
not put their bout at risk. A couple names he felt he could not
trust included lightweight Arman
Tsarukyan and ex-two-division champ Jon Jones. The
latter has been floated as a possible adversary should 205-pound
beltholder Alex
Pereira move up to heavyweight.
White was uncertain of the weight class, but suggested there was
inherent risk in scheduling a Jones fight.
“At 205,” White asked in response to a question on Jones vs.
Pereira. “Yeah, that would be a fight, but can I count on Jon Jones? You
can’t have Jon Jones
doing something bad or pulling out of the f—ing White House
fight.”