Dana White: 'I give Conor McGregor way more rope than anybody else'
UFC President Dana White is still ruling out a third fight between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz
When Conor McGregor walked with a majority decision win after 25 minutes of hard-fought action against Nate Diaz at UFC 202 in August, the consensus amongst the fight fans was both men would have to meet for a third time to officially settle the score.
Diaz previously defeated McGregor in their initial bout at UFC 196 in March. The Stockton native had taken the fight on just 10 days notice after McGregor’s original opponent, former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, pulled out with a broken foot.
So with one win a piece, the most logical scenario would be the rubber match between the two rivals. Right?
Not according to UFC President Dana White.
“You can’t do three,” White revealed during an interview on Hot 97 in New York. “Here’s the thing, Conor McGregor is this guy where if a fight falls out, this guy will step up. He doesn’t give a s**t. He’s legitimately that guy. I’ve been on the phone and I’ve stood in the living room many times and looked guys in the face when their opponent pulls out, nobody faces that adversity the way that Conor McGregor does.
“It’s awesome and it makes me respect him very much.”
While he admitted a third fight would certainly do big numbers in terms of earnings and pay-per-view buys, White points to the sheer size difference between the two men make him wary of booking it.
“[Conor] ends up saying ‘let’s do this Nate Diaz thing’ and dude he’s two weight classes heavier than you and he doesn’t care. So we do the fight,” said White. “Conor has to try to weigh 168 [pounds] when they’re weighing in at 170. The night of the fight, Diaz comes in at 190. Now Conor McGregor is a 145, 155-pound guy and if you look at the wars he’s had with Diaz, you can only have so many of those wars in your career. It doesn’t make sense.
“So I don’t know. 1-1’s good, they shouldn’t have fought in the first place. We’ll see what happens.”
White would later praise McGregor’s of ‘anytime, anywhere’ mentality while recognizing this approach to the fight game has given the Irishman more leeway to call his own shots as far as his next fights, media appearances and negotiating contacts.
“That’s why I give this guy way more rope than I give anybody else,” said White. “Conor can say whatever the hell he wants to, the guy steps up on four days notice, he can say whatever he wants. We’re in the fight game, who really wants to fight? That dude wants to fight.”
McGregor is currently scheduled to challenge lightweight champion Edide Alvarez in the main event of the highly anticipated UFC 205 card in New York City.
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