“Are you having a starter, Conor? And do you want to fight in Georgia or hold out for New York?”
Oh, to be a fly on the wall next week when Dana White and Conor McGregor meet for dinner next week, following the multimillion dollar falling out that the UFC president Wednesday described as a “speedbump”.
Speaking on the Dan Patrick Show, White insisted McGregor would not be reinstated to the UFC 200 bill. The Dubliner was pulled from the main event after the Dubliner refused to travel to the United States for promotional work.
There followed a farcical run of events – with McGregor retiring from MMA, before announcing his return on Facebook and trying to call the UFC’s bluff by announcing – incorrectly – that he was back on the UFC 200 bill.
Despite his protestations, White was clearly pissed off by the featherweight champion’s shenanigans, but the profitable pairing have patched things up with daily phonecalls.
“Conor and I have been talking every day,” said White. “We’re going to have dinner next week. Our relationship is great, and we’re going to put the little speed bump in the road that happened there behind us and move forward. So everything is great.”
That does not mean McGregor-Diaz II will be back on anytime soon, however. The UFC will be planning for McGregor’s comeback possibly at UFC 201 in Atlanta in July, or more likely the promotion’s triumphant return to New York at UFC 205 in November.
“He will not be on (UFC) 200. We’re going to get together next week and see what card he’s going to be on. We’re going to get together next week and see what’s next,” said White.
“I didn’t prevent Conor from fighting at UFC 200. Everybody, if you look at [last week’s] news conference—Joanna Jedrzejczyk came in from Poland. Claudia Gadelha came in from Brazil. This is what we do. This is how it works.
“I didn’t prevent him from fighting at UFC 200. He knew what the deal was. I told him what the deal was. He opted to do that.”
White did also broach the hoary story of McGregor facing Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match. White played down the rumours without ruling them out entirely.
“We haven’t talked about it. Conor McGregor’s under contract with the UFC,” White said. “If Floyd wants to fight Conor… call me, Floyd.”
