UFC president Dana White has lifted the lid on his recent meeting with Conor McGregor and the promotion’s former CEO Lorenzo Fertitta. The trio had a rendezvous at the Palms Resort and Casino in Las Vegas a few days after his demolition of Donald Cerrone at UFC 246.
Their meeting took place at the Unknown Bar, which is in the hotel that Fertitta owns, and appeared to indulge themselves with several glasses of whiskey – which has become a tradition for them after fights.
Understandably, many assumed the topic of McGregor’s next fight was a subject the of trio’s conversation – a summation that was reached following the Irishman’s comments in the post-fight press conference.
White, however, insists business wasn’t discussed during their meeting.
“No,” he told ESPN when asked if future plans were at all discussed. “No business. [We were] just talking about the fight, family – just all normal stuff that you and you go and hang with your friends and talk about. The exact same stuff.”
JUST IN: Conor McGregor meets ex-UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta to discuss next fight
“I don’t remember what the joke was, but we were talking about gambling,” White said when asked to recall one photograph from the meeting. “And I had just gambled before we went in there and I won $150,000. So that was my money.
“People were saying stuff like, ‘We were giving Conor his bonus’. First of all, Lorenzo’s not even involved in the UFC anymore. And yeah, it was my money.”
McGregor’s clash with Cerrone was his first outing in over 15 months and saw him pick up his first win in over three years.
The 31-year-old is hoping to have an active 2020, setting his sights on three outings this year.
The former two-division champion is hoping to perform a quick turnaround, so much so he’s planning to stay in shape in case either Khabib Nurmagomedov or Tony Ferguson fall out of their eagerly-anticipated lightweight title fight on April 18.
However, at this moment in time, the UFC brass doesn’t have anything in the pipeline for the Dubliner.
White said: “We don’t have anything yet. He literally went home a few days ago.
“He stayed here with his family and then wet to Disneyland and went home. We haven’t talked to him at all.”
The UFC chief added: “He doesn’t think Khabib and Tony is going to happen.
“So he wants to slide into that slot. That’s where we’re at right now.”
One fight which has also been touted for McGregor is a welterweight clash with fan-favourite Jorge Masvidal, who went to great lengths to get the attention of the UFC’s poster boy at UFC 246.
White, however, has other plans for ‘Gamebred’, saying: “Masvidal fights Usman for the title at 170lbs. That’s a no brainer.”