Ever since Conor McGregor ran into life-changing fortune with his 2016 boxing match against Floyd Mayweather, UFC CEO Dana White has offered a consistent answer about the Irishman’s fighting future.
That hasn’t changed much in the aftermath of McGregor’s withdrawal from his anticipated octagon return against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 on June 29 in Las Vegas.
White likely possesses as much knowledge about the life of McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) behind the scenes as anyone. Because of that, he’s said time and time again he it’s hard to set expectations. That was repeated often during McGregor’s nearly three-year layoff leading up to the scheduled fight with Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC), and now that there’s been a setback, White can’t give a firm answer on what the future holds.
“Conor’s going to be 36 in July,” White said Monday on “The Jim Rome Show” on X. “He’s got plenty of money and I don’t ever think that guys like that – Jon Jones, who knows? Maybe he’ll fight again. Maybe he won’t. Conor McGregor – maybe he’ll fight again, maybe he won’t. You never know with some of the guys that get to that level. You never know when you’re going to see them again.”
McGregor has competed just four times in MMA since he claimed his second UFC championship with a dazzling second-round TKO of Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in November 2016. He’s 1-3 in those bouts, and in the most recent of those against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021, he suffered a broken leg.
The details of the injury that forced McGregor out of UFC 303 have no been disclosed. It’s been reported the fight could be rescheduled for August or September, but White was not asked about a new timeline for a rebooking.
White did note that injuries for athletes like McGregor, who is already coming back from a catastrophic bone break, only get more difficult to recover from as time goes on.
It remains to be seen if McGregor can overcome those obstacles.
“The other thing about getting old, like race horses, is you get injured a lot easier,” White said. “You get hurt a lot easier, more injuries happen than it did when you were young, and you’re less willing to step in there with an injury than you did when you were young and hungry and broke.”
“Jon Jones. Maybe he’ll fight again. Maybe he won’t. Conor McGregor. Maybe he’ll fight again. Maybe he won’t.“ @danawhite on the possibility of two UFC icons never stepping in the octagon again. pic.twitter.com/aWaFnFtWcw
— Jim Rome (@jimrome) June 17, 2024
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 303.
