Dana White explained another reason for Conor McGregor’s extended layoff.
McGregor has grown impatient, at least so he claims, about his ongoing absence from the Octagon dating back to July 2021. The former two-division UFC champion has called for two or three fights this year, but fans have begun giving up as there haven’t been many significant updates on his highly-anticipated return.
UFC CEO Dana White recently did an interview on the Pound 4 Pound podcast with Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo to discuss various topics. When asked about McGregor’s return, White shut down the theory that they haven’t been communicating consistently:
“There’s no lack of communication, not at all…He has obligations right now to promote this movie. So, he’s been flying all over the world going to all the premieres of this launch of this movie. This is an obligation that he has to do.”
White continued by detailing how McGregor’s obligations for the Road House remake are related to his UFC return:
“He committed to this movie, he has obligations to this movie. He can’t do both. So, once this movie launches, which is Thursday, the 21st, I don’t know what his obligations are once it launches, then Conor can get back in the gym and start training, like full time getting ready for a camp… Conor needed this time, take off, handle his obligations, and now once this is over, he can get back into full time training, which means from Thursday on, we can start talking about fights for Conor.”
Watch White discuss McGregor’s return below:
Dana White on Conor McGregor:
Conor needed this time, take off, handle his obligations. And now, once this is over he can get back into full time training. Which means, from Thursday (Mar 21) on we can start talking about fights for Conor.pic.twitter.com/hXU9mmX8ZU
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) March 21, 2024
Dana White labels Kamaru Usman as ‘the greatest welterweight of all time’
Conor McGregor wasn’t the only controversial topic that Dana White discussed with Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo. At one point in the interview, White talked about what it takes to become a UFC champion and praised Usman as the greatest welterweight of all time, a label that most educated people give to Georges St-Pierre:
“When you become a champion in the UFC, you went through death f*cking row of the baddest motherf*ckers in this sport, in your division, that you could possibly fight. So, when you talk about a Kamaru Usman, who went through them f*cking twice, you might not like Kamaru, you might not like whatever is you don’t like about him, but you can not f*cking deny that he’s the greatest welterweight of all time. You can’t deny it.”
Kamaru Usman undoubtedly deserves a spot in the welterweight GOAT conversation for his wins against Demian Maia, Rafael dos Anjos, Tyron Woodley, Colby Covington x2, and Jorge Masvidal x2. With that said, it’s difficult to overlook Georges St-Pierre, who some believe is the greatest fighter of all time, regardless of the weight class.
Watch White’s full appearance on Pound 4 Pound below:
