Numerous sport’s supporters were flabbergasted that any Irishman, usually more than willing to fight for no pay, would walk away from the substantial money the UFC was sending McGregor’s way.
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“We gave Conor every opportunity in the world to get here too”.
The UFC featherweight champion originally was scheduled to fight welterweight Nate Diaz at UFC 200 in a rematch of a bout Diaz won last month.
At a news conference in Las Vegas on Friday, White repeatedly said it wouldn’t be fair to allow McGregor to compete after McGregor chose not to leave his training base in Iceland to shoot a commercial and participate in other promotional activities.
Last week, Conor McGregor shocked the UFC world by taking to Twitter to announce his retirement.
However, McGregor said on social media Monday that Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White and CEO/chairman Lorenzo Fertitta had backtracked on that decision.
“It’s part of the job, it’s what we do here”, White told reporters.
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White spent Sunday night tweeting about the Boston Celtics’ NBA Playoff game and has yet to address McGregor’s status for UFC 200 on social media or otherwise. We get criticized for bending too much for Conor and we do. “Conor is a guy who has stepped up and fought big fights on short notice, and I respect Conor very much as a fighter and I like him, but you have to show up and do this stuff”. Now White, who it is claimed McGregor has fallen out with, has the chance to have his own say on proceedings at the official UFC 200 press conference. If not, I’m going on vacation for real. The finish set the mark for the fastest knockout in UFC title fight history.
