Dana White Debunks Conor McGregor’s Claims; Blames ‘Road House’ & $200M Success for Delayed UFC Comeback

Conor McGregor is seemingly desperate to get back in the octagon. The Irishman, who has been out for three years, admitted in a recent interview for his new film ‘Road House’, that he had started to drink heavily and “drift off” as there was a “lack of communication” from the UFC. He also claimed that he still did not have a date for his comeback despite repeated pleas.

Due to this, Dana White and the UFC have come under immense criticism over the way they have handled the biggest star in the sport. Especially because McGregor has been lauded as the one who took it to new heights and has contributed more than any fighter to make it popular. Now, the UFC CEO addressed the former two-division champion’s allegations in a conversation with former champions Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman.

Dana White responds to Conor McGregor claiming silence from the UFC

Conor McGregor was supposed to fight Michael Chandelr late last year. The two had apeared as rival head coaches on season 31 of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ last year, and were expected to face each soon after the conclusion of the show, as is customary for ‘TUF’ coaches.

However, the bout was postponed and has kept getting delayed despite McGregor having floated a UFC 300, 303 and 306 booking, all of which have been publicly and unequivocally shot down by Dana White. Insiders like Chael Sonnen have speculated that the UFC is deliberately dragging its feet over the issue to put pressure on the former champion to re-sign with the UFC after his current contract, which has two fights left on it, expires.

After McGregor’s emotional interview, Dana White joined Usman and Cejudo on their ‘Pound 4 Pound’ podcast and spoke about McGregor’s comments. White flatly denied that there was any ‘lack of communication’ between McGregor and the promotion and claimed that the Irishman had not heard much from them as he was busy promoting his film.

“There’s no lack of communication, not at all. You know where Conor is tonight?… He’s in New York City for the premiere of Road House. He has obligations right now to promote this movie, so he’s been flying all over the world, going to all the premieres of this launch of this movie. This is an obligation that he has to do,” White said.

Cejudo claims White doing what is best for McGregor

Henry Cejudo came in defense of Dana White and suggested that the UFC boss was actually looking out for McGregor and did not want to put too much on the Dubliner’s plate when he was on a media blitz for ‘Road House’.

White agreed whole-heartedly and hinted that they would talk when McGregor is done with promoting his debut film. “Hundred percent. It is what it is, he committed to this movie. He has obligations to this movie, he can’t do both,” the UFC head honcho said.

White felt that the amount of money McGregor had made in his life, having become the wealthiest MMA fighter of all time with an estimated net worth north of $200 million, he was not as driven to grind and put in the hard work as he had before, implying McGregor was not fully prepared to come back yet.

“I don’t know what his obligations are once it launches then Conor can get back in the gym and start training, like full-time, getting ready for a camp. But you two can attest to this too.. once you start to make a lot of money you know you’re not as hungry as you were before,” he said.

What do you think about Dana White’s comments?

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