UFC frontman Dana White spoke about Conor McGregor‘s long-delayed return to the octagon.
Although McGregor has been eager to return to the UFC octagon for many months, the promotions’ CEO Dana White questions the Irishman’s readiness to fight another fight.
The former featherweight and lightweight champion has not been seen in action since 2021 when he suffered a broken leg in a trilogy loss to Dustin Poirier. This injury forced The Notorious to undergo long-term rehabilitation, during which he even left the ranks of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). This itself could have led to the agency splitting ways with the UFC.
Initially, it was speculated that he would return to the Octagon last year after the end of the reality show The Ultimate Fighter 31, in which he competed with Michael Chandler as a team captain. Later it was said that he would return in December, then the date was moved again to January, then to April, and finally, McGregor himself announced that his next fight would be in June. The thing is, however, that Dana White said last week that he was counting on the Irishman’s return in the fall.
So what’s the problem? Why does McGregor still have no fight scheduled? Journalist Kevin Iole asked Dana White about this in a recent interview.
“First of all, he is coming back from one of the nastiest injuries you can come back from. How long was Anderson Silva out when he did it? How long was Chris Weidman out when he did it? The guys who break that bone, so that’s an issue right there, No. 1. No. 2 is, Conor McGregor, doesn’t need the f*cking money. So when you don’t need the money, it’s not as easy. Khabib doesn’t need the money, Khabib retired.”
At UFC 162 Silva broke his leg during his against Chris Weidman when the American checked a kick against him. He returned 13 months later to fight Nick Diaz at UFC 183. However, he used banned substances to speed up his recovery.
Weidman broke his leg throwing a kick against Uriah Hall at UFC 261, just 17 seconds into the fight. He returned 28 months later against Brad Tavares. McGregor currently has been out for around 31 months.
Next, the UFC head honcho was asked about the Irishman’s health status and his training regime.
“Only Conor knows. These are questions for Conor McGregor, not me. I know he’s training. I don’t know what level of training he’s doing. I don’t know what level of kicking he’s doing right now. I don’t know any of that stuff. I need to know the guy’s in a full camp and he’s ready to go. Conor McGregor has a movie coming out. He’s got businesses that he’s built. It’s a completely different dynamic when you’re dealing with a guy that has this kind of money.”
Only time will tell if White is right. On the other hand, the Irishman posts video clips from his training and sparring sessions on his social media. Outside the fighting, he plays a big role in the upcoming “Road House” remake, which premieres March 21 on the Amazon Prime Video streaming platform.
