The Bald One Believes That it’s Only a Matter of Time Until We Hear Rumbles From Conor McGregor About a Potential Return…
In news that will shock absolutely nobody, Dana White has confirmed his belief that Conor McGregor will return to MMA action. The Irishman stunned the world by suddenly retiring from the sport on Twitter – for the second time, after pulling the same stunt back in 2016.
Now he is the most lucrative active combat sports athlete in the world, with his closest rival being Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. He’s been posting pictures to his social media of him training his boxing in various US gyms, prompting speculation that he could be set to cross over for a second time.
However, White believes that McGregor will back to the sport we all know him best for. He was planning on a July return and it’s still on the cards if he can get a deal sorted with the UFC that suits both parties.
Still Here
According to the UFC President, he doesn’t think McGregor is sincere in his retirement. When ‘The Notorious’ initially tweeted that he was leaving the sport behind him, White had nothing but positive things to say, which was probably a tactical ploy to show the Irishman that he couldn’t bring the UFC to beg him to come back.
“No,” White said, when asked if he believed that McGregor was truly retired. “I think that there’s some things that Conor wants and I think that Conor wants to get together face to face, he and I, and we probably will in the next couple of weeks and we’ll get this thing figured out.”
Respect
Allegedly, McGregor wants a cut of the company shares, something the UFC is resolutely refusing to even consider. Now thanks to their ESPN deal they have more power than ever to deal with their fighters – even McGregor, their biggest cash cow.
“Listen, who gets respected more than Conor McGregor does? Come on,” White said. “The guy’s never been disrespected, definitely not by me. And he’s got a lot of money too.
“But he’s stuck on this thing where he wants a piece of the ownership and that’s just — if you look at basketball, Michael Jordan didn’t own a piece of the league, and the list goes on and on. Is Conor very valuable to the sport and to the brand, the UFC? Of course he is. That’s a tough one, but I think there’s other ways that we can make him happy.”
Coming Back?
Of course, there are a whole host of names being linked with a potential fight against the volatile Irishman. Donald Cerrone, Max Holloway, Dustin Poirier, and Nate Diaz have all been linked heavily with him in recent months. Will we ever get to see him fight for championship gold again?
Meanwhile, he has to deal with very serious allegations of sexual assault in Dublin, Ireland. That’s something he’ll want to get past first and definitely reduces his bargaining power at the moment.
