Dana White Breaks Silence on Conor McGregor’s Unusual Situation Ahead of UFC 303

It seems like Dana White is not going to back down from his decision anytime soon, not about Jon Jones or even about Conor McGregor. The UFC head honcho’s campaign to give Jones the number one spot in the P4P ranking is not slowing down, and he is declaring everywhere that Jones is the best P4P fighter! He first said it in the UFC 302 post-fight press conference, saying that, as long as Jon Jones was in the game, no one could be the best pound-for-pound fighter. Despite Islam Makhachev defending his lightweight title and winning the fight against Dustin Poirier, White was not convinced that the 14-streak fighter was numero uno.

On top of that, he was also asked about McGregor’s partying scenes just before the fight with Michael Chandler, and White said it could all be “mental warfare.” He appeared in the Flagrant podcast with comedian Andrew Schulz and compared McGregor to Muhammad Ali! White, mentioned the unparalleled achievements of Jones and even McGregor in the Octagon. Let’s see what he had to say.

Dana White talks about Conor McGregor’s status ahead of UFC 303

During the talk with Flagrant, White was asked about McGregor’s partying shenanigans and if it was a marketing gimmick. McGregor did appear in his bar, The Black Forge Inn, and he was partying with his fiancé, Dee Devlin. White had an interesting take on this and initially said he did not know the exact reason for that video.

Then, he added that just like Muhammad Ali, ‘The Notorious’ was also really adept at “mental warfare.” Both are very good at getting into their opponent’s heads. He said, “I am in a place right now the Conor McGregor’s and the Jon Jones’ where you know they have sort of laid the foundation of their legacy and what they have and they’ve made a shi*load of money. And it’s at the point now where, when these guys do show up and fight, it’s fun.”

The UFC head honcho said that McGregor had complete control over his opponent’s minds in a lot of cases. He spoke about the Alvarez fight as well during this discussion. Even though he was not entirely familiar with McGregor’s antics, he did compare him to Ali.

Dana White talks about McGregor’s mental warfare

The conversation about Jon Jones and his prowess in and outside of the cage and how he was “dangerous”. Along with that, it was also on how ‘Mystic Mac’ was another legendary fighter who could get into people’s heads. He spoke about McGregor’s recent partying and it being a possible ploy to get into Chandler’s head. Schulz asked, “Speaking of Conor, is this marketing on Conor’s behalf? The video of him partying…?”

‘The Notorious’ shared a video on social media where he was enjoying in his pub and White was uncertain if it was a marketing gimmick. He stated, “I don’t know, I honestly don’t know.” The host then went on to speculate if it was a mind game that the former dual weight champ was playing. This is when White compared him to Muhammad Ali and said that both have a powerful game of mind combat. Ali did have a reputation for psychologically affecting his opponents to gain an edge with his predictions and trash talk. McGregor did the same before fights to ruffle the feathers of his opponents.

After the new developments of the McGregor vs. Chandler presser being postponed, people are again speculating the reasons, which are unknown even when the fighter apologized on social media. Now, fans await the fight, and White’s comments serve as a reminder of the Irishman’s psychological approach when he is fighting. What do you think is going to happen in this fight; and is McGregor doing all this to create more buzz around the fight? Let us know in the comments.