Dana White responds to Conor McGregor hinting at August, September return: ‘He’s not ready’
Conor McGregor may be hinting at a return date from a broken toe, but Dana White doesn’t even want to entertain that idea until he knows the Irish superstar is actually healthy again.
After dropping out of his scheduled return against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 on June 29, McGregor made a public appearance at the Bellator Dublin card Saturday to corner teammate Sinead Kavanagh. Backstage, McGregor — who arrived wearing a pair of slippers rather than shoes — offered a tentative timeline for his return but also mentioned that the treatment for his broken toe actually ended up causing him more pain than expected.
“August, September … I’d love,” McGregor told Severe MMA. “I’m in recovery mode, it’s three weeks to the day, it happened three weeks ago today. I’m still here rocking around in the slippers. They’re not bad slippers, thankfully and they’re cozy enough but I can’t get into a shoe yet. They put stem cells in my foot. They came and took it from the back and put it in my foot, 20 mg of stem cells out of my own back, from the bone marrow in and right into the break.
“My f*cking toe is sore and I don’t know if the stem cells into the break was the right move because you know the way chicks put the filler in their face [and it’s all swollen], my f*cking baby toe looks like that. I don’t think it’s the swelling anymore. I think it’s just the stem cells in my toe.”
Considering it’s already late June, McGregor returning in August or September might be ambitious but regardless, the UFC CEO isn’t even considering that right now.
Immediately after McGregor dropped out of his fight, White declared that he wouldn’t begin discussing a new date for his return until the former two-division UFC champion was healthy again. The same goes for entertaining the idea about adding a new date to the UFC’s calendar just to accommodate McGregor’s ideal time to fight again.
In other words, White is sticking to his guns on that subject.
“I don’t know right now,” White said addressing McGregor at the UFC Saudi Arabia post-fight press conference. “Our schedule is laid out. We’ll see. I’m not doing anything until I know that Conor is healthy. It’s not even worth talking about.
“What about September? What about October? He’s not ready. So why even talk about that?”
White also wasn’t interested in addressing McGregor’s opponent, although all signs seem to point towards Michael Chandler still getting that fight whenever it actually happens.
As much as he wants McGregor back, White doesn’t want to broach the topic of dates, locations, or opponents until he knows the biggest draw in UFC history has a clean bill of health.
With McGregor still limping around on a broken toe, that obviously hasn’t happened yet.
“I’m not thinking about Conor fighting anybody right now,” White said. “I have no time frame, I have nothing. McGregor’s not even healed yet. McGregor’s hurt.”