- Dana White reflected on the Khabib Nurmagomedov-Conor McGregor feud
- The UFC president hailed Jon Jones as the GOAT
UFC president Dana White looked back at the biggest moments in UFC history, including the Khabib Nurmagomedov-Conor McGregor feud and how Jon Jones’ earned his GOAT status.
Dana says it is what it is
Speaking to Lex Fridman, White opened up about being under fire following the infamous brawl between Nurmagonediov and McGregor. In his defense, the UFC boss insisted that they were just letting the people know what happened back as they were responsible for it.
“At the time, I was incredibly criticized for putting together the spot that had the scene with the bus in it. You know how the f**king media is, but they were saying that I was pandering to the violence that happened,” White said.
“I’m telling you a story. Telling you a story of how we got here and how big this fight is and how bad the blood is between these guys. And I mean, I think that’s what we do the best job at is telling the f**king stories of why,” he added.
As it stands, the tension between McGregor and Nurmagomedov appears to be still immense. In fact, “Notorious” recently took a jab at “The Eagle” during a promotional interview of his movie, “Road House.”
Check it out below:
Conor McGregor takes a dig at Khabib Nurmagomedov while answering if he’d rather fight a bear or a gorilla 💀
“Little fool, he went running.”
🎥 @UNILAD #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/P9sM25iiJt
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) March 24, 2024
Jones is the one and only GOAT
As for the MMA GOAT, White believes nobody has earned it than Jones. For White, Jones’ resume speaks for itself and there’s nothing to debate about. The UFC boss thinks Nurmagomedov could’ve reached the same heights if it hadn’t been for his injuries and decision to retire early.
“He’s never been beat,” White said of Jones. “He destroyed everybody at light heavyweight, which at the time was the toughest weight class in the company, in the sport. And then he moved up to heavyweight, won easily at heavyweight… Jon Jones, there’s no debate. Nobody can debate who’s the greatest of all time. It’s absolutely positively Jon Jones. He’s never lost. He’s never been beaten in the octagon ever.”
“And the other thing is that you have to factor in too is longevity… It’s undeniable. You can hate all you want. Jon Jones is the greatest of all time,” he added.
“I think that Khabib had the potential to be in the running for that,” he added. “He just didn’t stick around a lot. First of all, he had injuries that, you know, he should have been where he got a lot sooner had he not had the injuries that he had and the setbacks in his career, but there’s no doubt. Khabib is one of the all time greats.
Conor is almost perfect to work with
White was also asked to describe the positive and the negative side of working with McGregor. As per the UFC president, “Notorious” has been perfect to work with and the only bad thing he can say is that McGregor was often late.
“There’s literally no ugly. Conor McGregor has been an incredible partner to work with. If Conor showed up to things on time, there wouldn’t be one f**king bad thing I could say about Conor, you know what I mean?,” White said.
“[If you] Put a gun to my f**king head, right, and said, ‘Don’t lie, motherf**ker. Tell me all the bad things about Conor McGregor,’ I’d say the guy doesn’t show up on time. That’s it,” he continued.
“Let me tell you what Conor McGregor never did. He never walked in a room and said ;Conor, this guy just fell out. We want you to fight this guy.’ And he was like, ‘No way, I’m not taking this fucking risk. I’m at this point in my career where my money, my this, my that.” He was like, ‘F**k it, let’s do it.’ You know, he’d always say, ‘Let’s do it,'” he added.
White previously said that they could talk about McGregor’s UFC return once the Irish MMA star is done promoting his movie. He also once said that Jones would still face Stipe Miocic whenever “Bones” is fully recovered and ready.
Watch White’s full interview below:
