Advertisement

Dana White: UFC was discussing Conor McGregor fight in Brazil before bus incident

Had Conor McGregor not gone slightly haywire back in April, who knows what the UFC’s lightweight landscape would have looked like.

UFC President Dana White today told Jim Rome on “The Jim Rome Show” that the promotion was talking about a new contract for McGregor earlier this year – and the possibility for him to headline a card in Brazil.

The revelation came as response to a question about Khabib Nurmagomedov’s assertion that the UFC might have been behind McGregor’s now-infamous bus attack at UFC 223 in Brooklyn, N.Y. McGregor threw a dolly into the window of a bus that held UFC fighters, including Nurmagomedov and his crew. The attack was in response to Nurmagomedov allegedly slapping McGregor teammate Artem Lobov the day before.

“There were a lot of people that were speculating that we had something to do with (the bus attack),” White said. “We’re going to take our biggest star in the sport – which, actually, at the time, we were talking about not only getting a new deal done with Conor, but Conor actually fighting in Brazil – (and ask him to do the bus incident)?”

White didn’t say who McGregor potentially would have fought in Brazil. There would be a couple intriguing options, though. For starters, McGregor could have moved up to welterweight to fight Rafael dos Anjos, who at the time was 3-0 at 170 pounds. Dos Anjos went on to fight Colby Covington for an interim welterweight title at UFC 225, but lost a decision.

Or former featherweight champion Jose Aldo could’ve finally moved up to lightweight for a rematch with McGregor, who knocked him out in just 13 seconds at UFC 194 nearly three years ago.

But the bus incident threw a wrench into any immediate talk about that and helped keep McGregor on the sidelines even longer. White said the UFC plotting such a thing on behalf of McGregor also would be detrimental because of all the things that could go wrong.

[jwplayer IOogAu4f-RbnemIYZ]

“Conor can’t fight in New York now,” White said. We did an $18 million gate in New York (at UFC 205 with McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez), and (the New York State Athletic Commission) won’t have him fight in New York now. We’re going to take all that and risk that, for what? What would be the purpose?

“Who’s to say it would play out this way? Who’s to say Conor wouldn’t do any jail time, or what else could’ve happened – other commissions could’ve possibly not allowed him to fight, like New York won’t. So believe me, it’s very, very far-fetched. But fighters think the world is against them.

“What Khabib forgets is, him and his crew had surrounded Artem (Lobov), Conor’s friend, and Khabib slapped him in the face. That’s how this whole thing got started. People forget this started with Khabib, it didn’t start with Conor.”

Nurmagomedov (26-0 MMA, 10-0 UFC) and McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) finally will see their rivalry come to a head Saturday in the UFC 229 main event, which takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

For more on UFC 229, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.

More Featured