Dana White was prepared for the onslaught on Conor McGregor questions in Las Vegas.
15 minutes into his media scrum promoting UFC 218 and the TUF 26 Finale, UFC president Dana White had to face up to Conor McGregor’s antics outside of the Octagon.
The biggest star in the history of the sport brought global coverage to what would have been low-key Bellator event in Dublin when he decided to leap into the cage to celebrate with teammate Charlie Ward before Marc Goddard had actually deemed his fight against John Redmond to be over. Once the referee informed him that he had not yet stopped the fight, McGregor lost the plot, shoved Goddard and then proceeded to strike a Bellator employee in the face.
White had two and a half weeks to prepare his response to McGregor’s latest controversy. Even still, when a reporter began asking him that inevitable question, he started putting his game face on.
White was vague about what punishment, if any, McGregor would receive for his actions at the promotion’s main rivals’ show. After giving one line on that, he quickly changed the subject by suggesting that McGregor may never fight again.
“Listen, the punishment… he’s was being dealt with by the head of the ABC and regardless of what Audie (Attar) says, we were working on a fight for him for the end of the year and he’s just not ready. We’re still in that, we’re still in that… Conor might never fight again. Guy’s got $100 million, you know?”
“I’ve got guys who’ve made less than that and fucking or lawyers who went to school all their life and quit working. When you go to school your whole life to be a lawyer and you’re a good lawyer, you make a few bucks and you’re done. Guy’s sitting home every day watching fucking cartoons or whatever he’s doing, I don’t know. Joe Silva doesn’t work anymore. These guys make money and that’s it. Fighting’s the worst. Fighting’s the worst. Try to get up and get punched in the face every day when you’ve got $100 million in the bank. Money changes everything with a lot of people.”
Madness in Dublin thanks to @TheNotoriousMMA!!! DO NOT miss #Bellator187 TONIGHT on @spike 9/8c pic.twitter.com/BGWcOBDvFb
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) November 10, 2017
He then compared McGregor’s case to that of Jon Jones. Like the Dubliner, Jones achieved superstar status at a very young age, but his numerous controversies have seen him serve a lot of suspension time and have resulted in him being stripped of a #UFC belt three times.
“The other thing with the Bellator thing, he’s a young, rich kid who is a god in Ireland, you know. That’s not the healthiest environment either. I don’t know if you guys remember in the very beginning with Jon Jones, there’s no doubt that talent was there. I used to go, ‘the guy is talented, but he’s young and he’s rich and he’s the king of the world right now. Hopefully, he can keep it together.’ That was way before any of the crazy shit started happening and there it is. It happens.’ What’s weird is it happens more in this sport, in the fighting business than it does in any other sport.”
Despite claiming that we may have seen the last of McGregor the professional fighter, White admitted that he is unsure of what the future holds.
“Every time you talk to Conor, you don’t know. Who knows? He’s a very unique individual. I love the kid. I love the kid. I think he’s fun. He’s eh… he’s definitely, you know, if you look at all the money Conor’s made – there’s guys who always bitch about money and ‘I should have more money’ – Conor can’t be paid enough money. Conor’s worth every penny and more.”
With comments like these, McGregor will have a lot of leverage if he follows through with his quest for co-promoter status if he negotiates a new deal.
