- Dana White doesn’t know if Conor McGregor will ever make his UFC return
- The UFC boss said “Notorious” was one of the best business partners they have ever had
UFC president Dana White is no longer certain about the possibility of Conor McGregor returning.
Conor doesn’t have a reason to return
Speaking to the media in his post UFC 298 presser, White reiterated that “Notorious” doesn’t need UFC money in his life right now and that alone already makes it hard for them to convince McGregor that he needs to return. Ultimately, the UFC boss said he is not sure if McGregor will ever consider fighting under the promotion again, especially with how full his hands are at the moment.
“Well, the first problem was that he broke that shin bone. He was recovering from that,” White told reporters. “That was one of the reasons why. The other problem is he’s f**king rich. Conor McGregor doesn’t need money. If you had sh*tloads of money, would you be sitting here right now asking me this f**king question? No you would not. That answers your question.”
“I don’t know [if McGregor will ever return to the UFC],” White added. “Conor McGregor’s got a lot of money. Anytime we can get Conor, we’ll be happy. We’ll be thrilled when he comes and fights but money complicates a lot of things. “He just filmed a movie. He’s got to do the press for the movie and he’s got obligations with that. He does want to fight this year, but we’ll see what happens. That’s the only issue… there’s no other issue. That’s it.”
Conor was an excellent businessman
With that said, White also clarified that McGregor isn’t hard to deal with. In fact, the Irish MMA superstar is one of the best business partners the UFC has ever had. However, White implied that they just don’t have the pulling power to leverage a deal with McGregor at this point.
“Conor McGregor has probably been one of the best business partners we’ve ever had,” White revealed. “Doing business with Conor is, getting Conor to show up to sh*t on time is a problem but Conor as far as the business goes, for a guy, everybody talks about how Conor used to be on the dole and all this stuff, for a guy that was on the dole, Conor McGregor is a very good businessman and Conor McGregor’s always been a great partner to us. There’s never any hanging out and haggling for money or you know you pay me more money, Conor McGregor has never done anything even remotely close to that, It’s the exact opposite when it’s time to dig in and get to work and you know make money, he’s probably the most incredible partner we’ve ever had to be honest with you.”
It has been months since McGregor was expected to make his UFC return against Michael Chandler at the season finale of TUF 31. With White now confirming that nothing is concrete about the status of the former UFC two-division champ, it’s safe to say McGregor could not be returning anytime soon.
Watch White’s full presser below:
