UFC president Dana White is sticking to his belief that Conor McGregor should wait for Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje to play out.
Back in May, Gaethje went one-on-one with Tony Ferguson for the interim UFC lightweight championship. “The Highlight” emerged victorious over “El Cucuy,” scoring a fifth-round TKO victory. Gaethje snapped Ferguson’s 12-fight winning streak and now sets himself up for a title unification bout against Nurmagomedov.
White Reiterates That McGregor Should Wait Things Out
Appearing on Eddie Hearn and Tony Bellow’s Talk The Talk podcast, the UFC boss said that McGregor should allow Nurmagomedov vs. Gaethje to play out before stepping back inside the Octagon (via BJPenn.com).
“I think the best thing for him, I’m not saying this is what’s going to happen, but in my opinion, he lets this Gaethje-Khabib fight play out and he fights the winner,” White said on Eddie Hearn & Tony Bellow’s Talk The Talk podcast. “I think that’s the smartest move for him. But, you know him, maybe he wants to fight before that and if he does, we can figure something out. I think that is the move for him right now.”
This isn’t the first time White has shared this viewpoint. He has said in the past that he feels McGregor shouldn’t entertain just any fight. The “Notorious” one isn’t short on UFC fighters lining up to take him on, including Anderson Silva and welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.
McGregor returned to action back in Jan. 2020 after being away for over a year. The former UFC “champ-champ” shared the Octagon with Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. McGregor starched Cerrone in just 40 seconds, earning the TKO victory. That bout was contested at welterweight.
The “Notorious” one has since taken aim at Gaethje, Ferguson, Nurmagomedov, and Dustin Poirier. He even said that he plans to regain the lightweight gold and then move up to take on the 170-pound title holder.
