The UFC isn’t waiting around for Conor McGregor to return because there’s no way to know if or when he will be back.
The UFC lightweight title will be up for grabs in New York City again, this time without the Irishman who won it here more than a year ago.
UFC President Dana White does not know if we will see McGregor, who defeated Eddie Alvarez for the belt at Madison Square Garden in November 2016, in the octagon again. McGregor has not fought at all since he lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in his boxing debut in August.
“I don’t know,” White told the AP of McGregor’s status in advance of UFC 220 in Boston on Saturday night. “I don’t wait for anybody. I run my business, I keep rolling and that’s it. The kid’s got $100 million. Who knows, he might never fight again.”
The company announced Friday that Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov will fight for the interim lightweight title in the main event at UFC 223 on April 3 at Barclays Center. Rose Namajunas will also defend her women’s strawweight belt in a rematch with Joanna Jedrzejczyk from UFC 217. McGregor is in line to fight the winner of the main event, should he choose to return.
“We can’t tie up the title two years, no matter how much I love the kid,” White said of McGregor. “We’ll let Tony Ferguson and Khabib fight for the title and then Conor obviously will be the first one to come back and get a crack at either one of them.”
White does have other potential bouts in mind, but that doesn’t include a McGregor-Mayweather boxing rematch. He wasn’t happy with the way things went with Showtime during the first go-round, calling Showtime Sports executive Stephen Espinoza “a weasel.” He is, however, open to Mayweather suiting up in the UFC – under one condition.
“If Floyd wants to fight in the octagon and get out of his Showtime deal, let’s do it,” White said. “I think that’s the only way people would care this time. Do you know how many people want to see that guy take a shin to the face?”
While Mayweather trying MMA still is a fantasy, White said he will give former WWE star CM Punk another shot at his dream of being a cage fighter. He does not have a date or an opponent in mind but is “working on it.”
The 39-year-old Punk, whose real name is Phil Brooks, was tapped out in 2:14 by Mickey Gall in his UFC debut in September 2016. White sees Punk’s case as completely different from “most normal human beings.”
“I like that guy. He’s a good dude,” White said. “He wants one more. He wants to get another shot. I’m going to give it to him.”
Another shot at the UFC is exactly what White believes current WWE star Brock Lesnar will take, but he thinks Ronda Rousey – the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion – won’t try for another MMA fight. Lesnar likely still has a bad taste in his mouth that he would like to rid himself of.
The former UFC heavyweight champion and current WWE Universal title holder returned to MMA for UFC 200 in July 2016 to beat Mark Hunt by unanimous decision. It was changed to a no-contest after Lesnar failed a doping test and received a one-year suspension from the Nevada Athletic Commission. He can return once the ban is over.
“I think he’ll give it one more run,” White said. “I just think Brock loves to fight.”