“The guy steps up when it matters.”
That was the line Dana White was sticking to in his last interview recorded before Conor McGregor made his ‘I AM NOT RETIRED’ statement.
It was clear that White, while eager to stress ‘The Notorious’ was out of UFC 200, was keen to play down any talk of an ongoing rift.
What since followed White’s chat with TMZ is the Dubliner’s claim that he would only take part in a reduced publicity capacity for July’s big event. The next move was said to be the UFC’s but, last night, White was not providing any more clarity:
Reporter asked Dana White today if he would do a scrum, but White just smiled. "You got questions, huh? Well, I don't have any answers."
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 21, 2016
White, and the UFC brass, appear to be set on keeping Nate Diaz in the main event slot but giving him a high-profile opponent. White said:
“I didn’t want Nate to get screwed up in this whole deal and not have the opportunity to fight on this card.
“We talked to Nate. We threw out some opponents and we’ll see what happens.”
This would then tally with claims of lightweight title challenger Khabib Nurmagomedov. ‘The Eagle’ insists he turned down an offer, from White, to fight Diaz because the event comes too soon after the religious practice of Ramadan.
Nurmagomedov also mentioned Georges St-Pierre as another fighter being actively pursued by the promotion for UFC 200.
Diaz has long complained about not getting his time in the spotlight. A super-fight with St-Pierre would certainly keep him top of the billing.
St-Pierre or weltwerweight champion Robbie Lawler appear the only chances of keeping Diaz at the top of the billing.
As for McGregor…
I've got my bills paid. My money made. And the entire game slayed. #YourMove pic.twitter.com/wOgbNgUPVd
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) April 22, 2016
