UFC may strip McGregor’s lightweight title
White warns McGregor he faces being stripped of his UFC lightweight title if he remains out of the octagon until September.
Conor has said he’s thinking about coming back in September. If he comes back in September that’s almost two years, that can’t happen, it’s not fair to everybody else…I love Conor, I respect Conor, I love everything he’s done for this company, but the belt would have to move on.
White says McGregor’s continued absence is unfair to his division rivals and added talks are under way for interim champion Tony Ferguson to take on undefeated Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov in a bout for the lightweight title.
You do Khabib versus Tony. We’re working on that fight now. If and when Conor comes back, he will get the first crack at the title.
"Conor has said he's thinking about coming back in September. If he comes back in September, that's almost two years…that can't happen." — @danawhite
Dana speaks on #UFCSTL, Khabib, Tony and of course…Conor McGregor possibly being stripped. https://t.co/fTlT8sD2I3
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) January 15, 2018
White: McGregor ‘may never fight in the Octagon again’
At the UFC’s Las Vegas headquarters, White says McGregor may not fight again:
Conor might never fight again. The guy’s got $100 million. I’ve got guys that made less than that and were lawyers and went to school their whole life and quit working. Try to get up and get punched in the face every day when you’ve got $100 million in the bank. Money changes everything with a lot of people.
As for a potential fight with Tony Ferguson:
Listen, we ain’t taking any direction from Ferguson. With [McGregor], it’s not about ‘defend or vacate’. We’re working on a new deal right now. We’ve got to work out this new deal.
McGregor ‘absolutely devastated’ after Las Vegas shooting
McGregor says he is ‘absolutely devastated’ on hearing of Sunday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas, the city where he trained and fought Mayweather. Dana White says that the UFC organisation will donate $1 million to the families of the victims of the attack. McGregor posts on Instagram:
Absolutely devastated upon hearing the news in Las Vegas…a city so close to my heart.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZxKtfigdqn/
Dana White gives update on McGregor-Diaz III
Talk of a series decider between McGregor and Diaz that would headline UFC 219, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on December 30, is dismissed by White. White categorically denies the rumours of McGregor vs Diaz III being set by tweeting:
Not true AT ALL.
Not true AT ALL
— danawhite (@danawhite) September 24, 2017
Video: McGregor apologises to White after Mayweather defeat
In a poignant scene from the final episode from All Access, McGregor is in the changing room post-fight, being consoled by his family and friends, when he apologises to White for his defeat. White refuses to accept:
Sorry? Dude, I’m ecstatic!
McGregor-Mayweather breaks the all-time PPV record
Dana White says that last weekend’s super-fight has generated a record-breaking 6.5 million pay-per-view buys, a figure which would dwarf the previous record of 4.6 million, set by Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, by almost 2 million. This is despite the three million people who illegally streamed the fight. The final figure could be higher, as it doesn’t include sales outside the United States. It will also mean that McGregor holds the pay-per-view record for both boxing and mixed martial arts. The 6.5 million figure also beats the cumulative total for the top five UFC pay-per-views in the company’s history, and is five times larger than any WWE PPV event ever. The fight will go down in history as one of the single most profitable sports events ever.
Wow. In this Instagram story post by Urijah Faber, Dana White says #MayweatherMcGregor did 6.5M PPV buys. pic.twitter.com/JBJGNUDy7q
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) August 30, 2017
Dana White: Oscar De La Hoya is ‘snorting coke’, Bob Arum is an ‘a-hole’
After Oscar De La Hoya posts a tweet criticising McGregor and Mayweather. White responds:
WTF?!? Is this guy snorting coke and drinking booze again??!?
WTF?!? Is this guy snorting coke and drinking booze again??!? #OscarDeLaArum pic.twitter.com/awn2bgnWNV
— danawhite (@danawhite) August 25, 2017
White elaborates:
He’s way down with that [Canelo vs. McGregor fight]. Don’t believe his bullsh*t. That guy is so full of sh*t that it’s not even funny. First of all, when this whole thing first went down [with McGregor looking to box] – Oscar De La Hoya was saying ‘oh I would love to have McGregor fight for me and do him and Canelo.’ And as soon as the deal gets made [for Mayweather-McGregor] it’s the worst fight ever made…Oscar De La Hoya is full of sh*t up to here. I still can’t believe he did that [tweet]. Bob Arum is the biggest jerkoff in this sport by a hundred thousand miles. By far the biggest jerkoff in the sport. Now [De La Hoya] left Arum. Everyone will agree that Arum is just an *sshole. Now De La Hoya, who I’ve known for a long time and I like Oscar, as soon as this fight is made he turns into ‘Oscar De La Arum’ and goes crazy on the fight.
Mayweather vs McGregor All Access Episode 4
Showtime releases the fourth episode of All Access, its behind-the-scenes series about the build up to the McGregor-Mayweather fight. Dana White:
From the first day I met him I knew he’d be a big star. I call him ‘The Unicorn’. He’s very, very smart. His comedic timing is perfect. He’s a very likable guy. There’s no persona with Conor McGregor. He is who he is. I asked his girlfriend one time, ‘Is he like this 24/7?’ and she said, ‘Y’know Dana, sometimes I wake up and he’s shadow boxing in his underwear at three in the morning. That’s who he is.’…If Conor McGregor wins this fight, and he knocks out Floyd Mayweather, it will be the greatest upset in the history of sports. It is literally all anyone will talk about for a year…He has the ability to make you believe.
White announces Ferguson, Lee interim lightweight title fight for UFC 216
White announces Ferguson and Lee will square off for the UFC interim lightweight title at October’s UFC 216 event for October 7 in Las Vegas.
Kahbib’s not ready. It is what it is.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) August 16, 2017
White: McGregor ‘is going to be the biggest athlete on the planet’
White says that boxing has snubbed MMA, and is now ready for a wake up call.
Here’s the reality: boxing has tried to snub this sport for a very long time. The people who think is going to be this one-sided whatever with Floyd Mayweather, don’t know Conor McGregor yet. The beautiful thing about this thing is that it’s the biggest combat sport [event] ever in the history of combat sports — now you’re going to meet Conor McGregor, motherf—s!…When he makes this upset — and it’ll be the biggest upset in the history of sports — he’s going to be the biggest athlete on the planet. It’s going to be awesome.
White: McGregor ‘gave Malignaggi a one-sided beating’
White talks about suggestions by Malignaggi that he had edited the McGregor sparring footage to make McGregor look better.
What am I Steven Spielberg! Come on! It’s footage of the actual sparring. I was there for all 12 rounds. Paulie has said some bad things about me. I felt sorry for the guy. It was a one-way beating. A lot of people were saying Conor couldn’t box. Paulie was obviously lying about everything about the sparring match, so I released it….I got no problem releasing the full tape, the problem is that Conor doesn’t want Mayweather to see everything he’s working on…It was very one-sided. it was an absolute beating. It was the right thing for Paulie Malignaggi to leave, for his health’s sake…Conor’s going to come at [Mayweather] different than anyone he’s every faced before. It’s not going to be a boxing match, it’s going to be a fight.
White: It’s crazy to rule out McGregor beating Mayweather
White says he believes in McGregor’s ability to beat Mayweather.
I stopped doubting Conor McGregor a long time ago. Everything he’s told me he’s going to do, he’s done, so if he says he’ll beat Floyd Mayweather inside four rounds, he will. I don’t think Conor underestimates him, he obviously respects him but you’ve got to remember – Floyd is 41 years old and Conor McGregor is 28 years old. He’s the bigger, stronger fighter. People aren’t giving him a chance and that’s just crazy. This is going to be a fight, and anything can happen in a fight…[8 ounce gloves] definitely benefits Conor. First of all, Floyd isn’t a big puncher, he’s not a knockout puncher. His whole game is defence, using the gloves to defend himself and smaller gloves means Conor will have more places to hit. We’ve always wanted to have smaller gloves, they didn’t want it and now all of a sudden Floyd has decided that he wants smaller gloves. So now we have a hearing with the state commission this week and hopefully that will happen. Conor isn’t concerned about Floyd’s punching power at all.
Dana White posts Malignaggi ‘pushdown’ video
White posts a video of the moment Malignaggi fell to the floor in his sparring session with McGregor. Malignaggi has claimed in interviews that he was pushed down by McGregor.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXrdz9qAL4M/
McGregor-Malignaggi sparring video
White posts a video of McGregor and Malignaggi sparring.
For all the people who think @thenotoriousmma can’t box. This is gonna be a FIGHT!!!! For those that don’t know this is Conor vs Paulie Malignaggi former IBF and WBA World Champion.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXrdc2Ygo-H/
McGregor Game of Thrones parody
McGregor, Mayweather and White appear in a Game Of Thrones-inspired parody video.
Two worlds collide…
🗡️🥊 #MayweatherMcGregor Is Coming… #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/i9x2Fh9TVF
— Conor McGregor News (@ConormcGregor5) August 7, 2017
Woodley demands White apology or he’ll start ‘leaking sh*t’
After Woodley’s UFC 214 win against Demian Maia, White says that Woodley should have put Maia away in the second round, criticises the lack of action in the fight, and then says he had taken away the Georges St-Pierre fight from Woodley and gave it to Michel Bisping.
Yup! There you go. Because I know Michael Bisping will fight. Michael Bisping will show up and actually fight.So yeah, we will give it to him. The ship turned around and fucking sailed back.
In response Woodley says he had problems with his shoulder:
My shoulder is f-cking torn. I’m upset, I didn’t say anything in the fight, because that’s not what a champion does…I don’t care so much about the fans, but when your job title is promoter, promote your fucking fighter. Promote your champion, don’t demote your champion. I threw my shoulder out in the first round and I wasn’t able to throw any damaging shots. I still stayed the course, stayed on task and stayed on point. I executed the gameplan after having to reduce my shots to straight punches. I didn’t even tell my coaches until I was getting my medicals after…So I am owed a public apology. You want to publicly scrutinize me Dana White, you need to publicly apologize to me. I’ve done nothing but good things for this sport, nothing but a good model for the organization…And if I don’t get that, I am going to start leaking some sh-t you don’t want to be out in the wind, and I am not even kidding about that. They know what I’m referring to. I am due a public apology. I better get it. I am tired of it.
Covington threatens to expose ‘serious dirt’ on Woodley
Covington, who has gone 7-1 in the UFC welterweight division in which Woodley is the champion, tells White that he has “serious dirt” on Woodley which he will leak if Woodley makes good on his threat to leak damaging information.
Don't worry boss @danawhite I know some serious dirt on @TWooodley that would ruin his life. #fake https://t.co/MK9SdXRgge
— Colby Covington (@ColbyCovMMA) August 1, 2017
White talks fight to Kimmel
White appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live to talk about the upcoming fight. Kimmel asks if he thinks Conor has a chance at all to beat Floyd Mayweather.
White:
I do…Floyd Mayweather is going to be 41 years old this year. If there’s a kink in that armour, it has been with southpaws. Conor McGregor is a southpaw, and he hits like a truck. He’s got 12 rounds to land that punch…When he hits people they go, and if he hits Floyd, I think he will hurt him, and when he hurts people he puts them away.
Kimmel:
Is this like a cricket team trying to win the World Series?
White:
No, normally, when boxers fight boxers, there’s a system to it. McGregor will be completely unorthodox. It’s what makes this fight so intriguing.
White: ‘McGregor ‘Not a boxer’
White says that, after watching videos of McGregor boxing, that the Irishman will not beat Mayweather through standard boxing techniques.
All I’ve seen are stuff that he’s [McGregor] sent me, videos that he’s sent me. Listen he’s not a boxer, at the end of the day, Conor McGregor is not a boxer, he’s a fighter. Conor McGregor is the bigger, stronger guy and needs to hit Floyd Mayweather and needs to hurt him. I don’t see him out-pointing Floyd in a boxing match. I see him getting in, turning it into a fight and roughing Floyd up. I believe in this fight Floyd is going to fight traditionally the way that Floyd fights, the best defensive fighter ever.
McGregor-Mayweather Face Off audio released
White releases a video that shows what McGregor and Mayweather said to each other during their face-off in LA.
CMG: Look me in the eye. I’m gonna bounce your head off the canvas. One shot is all it takes me. Anywhere on the dome. Anywhere on the dome, son. You can keep your gloves up too. I break the guard. My shots break the guard.
FM: Easy work. Easy work.
CMG: Four rounds and your unconscious….
FM: You ain’t making it out of the first round. Keep talking.
CMG: You ain’t knocked nobody out in over 20 years, motherf-cker. Them hands sore already? Do your hands hurt in the cold. You should get them massaged out. I’m a f-ckin’ animal. If this was a real fight you’d be dead already. If this was a real fight you’d be dead already. 20 seconds and I’d smash you within an inch of your life.
FM: Just show up
CMG: I’m right here. You ain’t gonna do shit.
White: I just noticed his suit says ‘F-ck you’.
