Dana White has gone on record with a guarantee that UFC superstar Conor McGregor won’t fight at all this year.
“This year, he’s retired,” White said on the ‘My Mom’s Basement,’ show. “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 you he will not fight in 2020. Conor McGregor is retired.”
McGregor stated back in June that he was retiring, but since then he’s appeared to accept call-outs to fight from various opponents, most recently including rising UFC star Khamzat Chimaev and boxing ace Manny Pacquiao, but White doesn’t believe a word of it.
“If he wanted to do it, he would’ve called me,” White said.
“These guys keep asking me about Conor McGregor, who is retired. Conor plays you guys like fiddles, man. 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.”
With all that being said, White did admit that he doesn’t believe that McGregor will stay retired forever.
“Do we all believe he’ll stay retired? I think most of us don’t believe that he’ll remain retired, but let me put it to you this way: I owe fighters that are under contract with me three fights a year. OK? If I don’t deliver those three fights a year, I have to pay them. Conor McGregor is retired, whether people want to believe it or not.
“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 questions about him, and I’m like, ‘Manny Pacquiao? What the f-ck are you talking about?”
And he also added that it’s possible he’ll compete in 2021, but at this stage there’s nothing marked on the calendar.
“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 you he will not fight in 2020. Conor McGregor is retired.”
