Conor McGregor will fight again for the UFC – and possibly soon after UFC 200. Just not at UFC 200.
That’s the word from UFC President Dana White, who addressed the featherweight champion during a UFC 200 press conference today at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Earlier today, officials confirmed light-heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier (17-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) and interim titleholder Jon Jones (22-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) will rematch in UFC 200’s headliner and title-unification bout on July 9 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
They took the top spot on the pay-per-view card after McGregor (19-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) butted heads with UFC officials and was ultimately pulled from a planned headlining non-title rematch with Nate Diaz(19-10 MMA, 14-8 UFC) at the historic event.
While McGregor, who complained about required promotional duties for the card, has been active on social media, White has downplayed any potential rift. He maintained that stance today.
“Listen, Conor’s going to fight again,” said White, who said he hasn’t spoken to McGregor since last week. “He’s going to fight at UFC 201, 202, 203 – whatever the deal might be.
“We’ll see … what’s next when that plays out. But (UFC) 200 is the fight everybody’s been looking to for a long time. It is what it is. The show’s going to roll on, and Conor will fight again.”
When pressed further, White said McGregor, who skipped the initial UFC 200 press conference last week in Las Vegas, was the one responsible for his removal from the card. However, he said McGregor is in no way scared to fight Diaz.
“This is what we do,” White said. “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 is, and he opted to (skip the press conference).
“Conor asked to fight Nate Diaz. Conor wants to fight Nate Diaz. … Conor doesn’t back down from fights, man. One of the things that’s made Conor popular and as big as he is is this dude wants to fight. This guy comes to fight, and he comes out guns blazing. Conor is fun. Conor is a stud. I have a lot of respect for Conor. Conor and I just had a – you have to show up and do the PR. You have to.”
When asked if UFC 200 ticket prices might be lowered with box-office draw McGregor off the card, White scoffed.
“I honestly don’t even know what ticket prices are off the top of my head; I don’t know,” he said. “Nothing’s changed. We’re in the fight business, man. Fights fall out and things happens, and we roll on. It’s the way that it works.
“The Conor thing has been crazy, and it is what it is.”
For more on UFC 200, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site
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