UFC President Dana White has different thoughts on Conor Mcgregor’s retirement. The Irishman bid farewell to the MMA world last week but White thinks otherwise. White believes we are yet to see the last of McGregor in the Octagon.
The big news came last Tuesday when the Notorious informed his fans about his retirement via Twitter. McGregor’s latest retirement stoked some serious debate on whether the Irish star can be taken seriously.
McGregor has recently demanded shares in the UFC. He asks for shares in return for fighting in a co-main event. The UFC has denied him thus far, encouraging him to buy his shares like everyone else. Many feel his retirement is just another attempt to gain leverage over negotiations with the UFC.
UFC President Dana White gave an interview to Las Vegas’ Channel 8 station on Monday. There, White expressed his opinion on McGregor’s retirement.
When asked if he believed that McGregor had genuinely called an end to his fighting career, White said,
“No, I think that there’s some things that Conor wants and I think that Conor wants to get together face to face, he and I, and we probably will in the next couple of weeks and we’ll get this thing figured out.”
McGregor appeared on The Tonight Show to discuss his plans for a fight in the summer. The next day, he announced his retirement.
Dana White has no intentions to let go of McGregor, who regularly brings in record-breaking viewership numbers. White said,
“Listen, who gets respected more than Conor McGregor does? Come on, the guy’s never been disrespected, definitely not by me. And he’s got a lot of money too.
“But he’s stuck on this thing where he wants a piece of the ownership and that’s just — if you look at basketball, Michael Jordan didn’t own a piece of the league, and the list goes on and on. Is Conor very valuable to the sport and to the brand, the UFC? Of course he is. That’s a tough one, but I think there’s other ways that we can make him happy.”
