UFC president Dana White ‘guarantees’ that Conor McGregor won’t be stepping inside the Octagon in 2020.
McGregor fought back in January of 2020, making his highly-anticipated return to fighting action against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. It took the Irishman all of 40 seconds to dismantle the UFC veteran. Shortly after the fight, “Mystic Mac” declared his desire to fight three or four times in 2020. However, the current COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench in those plans.
McGregor soon after announced his retirement from mixed martial arts (MMA), once again, but many believe the Irishman will one day return. In fact, there are some who think McGregor will fight this year, given the UFC has found a way to keep pushing forward with events despite everything going on in the world. Speaking on Barstool Sports, however, UFC president Dana White noted he’s moving forward as if McGregor is sticking true to his retirement claim. (H/T MMA Fighting)
“These guys keep asking me about Conor McGregor, who is retired,” White said. “You guys keep asking me about him and he’s retired. Conor plays you guys like fiddles. You guys are like puppets on a string. He’s retired.
“He sends one Tweet that says , ‘I accept,’ and it’s right after Khamzat calls him out and two other guys. I’m not focused on anything with anybody who’s not fighting. Conor McGregor is retired. Do we all believe he’ll stay retired? I think most of us don’t believe that he’ll remain retired.”
White continued on, suggesting he doesn’t contractually owe McGregor any fight offers since he’s officially retired for the time being. The UFC boss isn’t even thinking about McGregor in a business sense, as all their occasional communications with one another are personal.
“Let me put it to you this way, I owe fighters that are under contract with me three fights a year. If I don’t deliver those three fights a year, I have to pay them,” White said. “Conor McGregor is retired, whether people want to believe it or now. He is not fighting right now, so when he’s not fighting, I don’t even think about him or what he’s doing or any of that stuff on a business level.
“I’ll still shoot him a text personally, but on a business level, he’s out of the mix. He’s not fighting at all. So everybody keeps asking me questions about him and I’m like, ‘Manny Pacquiao? What the f*ck are you talking about?’”
Furthermore, on the Pacquiao rumors, White says there’s no validity to those rumblings. Any fight involving Conor McGregor would have to go through White, and that’s not a conversation being had right now. In fact, White went as far as guaranteeing that McGregor won’t fight in 2020.
“He is retired,” White said. “Conor McGregor is not fighting, he is retired. I have no plan. I’m in the war room right now and we have fights laid out to November 7 and Conor McGregor is not on any of them. This year, he is retired.
“He doesn’t have a fight this year, and he won’t have a fight this year. Conor McGregor will not fight in 2020. I’m not saying he won’t fight in 2021, but I’m telling you we don’t have a fight planned for him in 2021, but I guarantee he will not fight in 2020. Conor McGregor is retired.”
