UFC President Dana White attended the recent UFC 242 press conference in the UK to promote the much anticipated title unification bout between the champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and the interim champion Dustin Poirier to be held on Sept. 7 in Abu Dhabi.
As expected, White was questioned about the availability of Conor McGregor who hasn’t fought since his one-sided loss to the champion Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 back in October. Since then, McGregor has announced his retirement in the sport before getting into a personal spat with “The Eagle” on Instagram.
White said he has been in contact with the former dual-division champion and said will be a keen observer when the 155-pound championship fight takes place later this year (via BJPenn.com).
“Conor is in a position where he’s sitting back right now, and I think, waiting to see how this whole thing plays out with all these guys. But he should pop up soon.”
White defended the Irishman after comments from controversial manager Ali Abdelaziz, who suggested that McGregor had turned down a fight with Justin Gaethje.
“No. Conor hasn’t turned down anything,” White said. “Ali can say whatever. Conor doesn’t turn down fights, period. Conor has been one of the most stand-up… when things get crazy and most people pull out of fights, Conor stays in. Conor McGregor isn’t afraid to fight anyone, so that is absolutely false.”
White said that despite McGregor’s significant wealth and his successful Proper 12 Whiskey business, he believes the fan favourite will return to the Octagon in 2019.
“I think we’ll see him this year,” White said.