INQUISITR.COM / Sports

Conor McGregor Says He Will Fight At UFC, Dana White Insists He Won’t

By Mandy Crum
Published on: 08:17 PST, May 1, 2016

Conor McGregor says he will indeed be on the ticket for UFC 200 in July, despite Dana White’s assurances to fans recently that McGregor had been pulled because of his refusal to take part in promotional duties for the organization.

Dana White announced recently that McGregor had been taken off the bill for the fight against Nate Diaz — which would have been a rematch following McGregor’s shocking defeat at UFC 196 — because he had refused to fly to the states to do promo work. McGregor quickly took to Twitter last week and said that the match was back on, thanking White and the organization for everything they had done to work things out, but White told TMZ later that he has no idea what Conor is talking about.

“It’s not true. We haven’t talked to Conor or his manager since the press conference. I don’t know why he would tweet that. All the media keeps asking me that. I feel like the scene in ‘Step Brothers’ when they ask if they can build the bunk beds. I don’t know how many more times I can say the fight is off or how many more press conferences I can have saying the fight is off for people to believe it’s off,” Dana White said.

McGregor has had a bumpy few months recently; the Irish fighter announced that he was retiring from MMA despite his claims that he’d made hundreds of millions of dollars for the organization, then claimed that he was busy training and flying out to do press conferences was taking time away from it.

“We pulled Conor McGregor from UFC 200 and we’re working on other fights right now. Conor did not want to come to Las Vegas and film the commercial and be a part of the marketing. He’s in Iceland training. Is Conor retiring? Only he can answer that question. I don’t know,” Dana White said.

While rumors are flying about the match, McGregor is still officially off the bill, and Dana White has announced that the main fight in July will be between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier. Meanwhile, Conor is getting other offers for fights, including one from a Russian promotion called Fight Nights. The group reportedly offered McGregor $2 million to fight Rasul Mirzaev in June, but it’s unclear whether he’s considered it.

Following McGregor’s shocking loss to Diaz in March, fans took to social media to express disbelief and to send the fighter encouraging words, although some took the opportunity to get a little harsh. David Meyler, who plays football for Republic of Ireland, took to Twitter to support Conor in the midst of several nasty tweets that came not just from Diaz supporters, but former fans of McGregor’s. The normally brash fighter took the loss with grace, however, saying he took a chance on the fight because he moved up two weight classes to take on Diaz after Rafael Dos Anjos announced that he couldn’t participate.

“I took a chance going up to 170. I thought I took him in the first round. I was inefficient with my energy. These things happen. I learn, I grow. I’ll face it like a man, like a champion.”

Read more at http://inquistr.wpengine.com/2860354/conor-mcgregor-earns-support-from-irish-football-players-after-defeat/#jxAqaRuBq4RUSVIM.99

[Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty]

Share this article: Conor McGregor Says He Will Fight At UFC, Dana White Insists He Won’t
ufc dana white Conor McGregor
More from Inquisitr