Media Dana White: From here on, I'm not going to talk about Conor until when he's healed and he's right

[Siver!]

I doubt it. He draws the most interest ($$$$$$$$) so I think we'll hear about him whether Dana plans to or not for at least the next couple years. I bet he even has a different ringtone for when Connor calls.

 

[ocfightfan]

Dana White Vows To Change The Way He Promotes Conor McGregor

UFC CEO Dana White isn't giving up on Conor McGregor, but he is going to change the way he promotes him after his removal from UFC 303.

www.forbes.com

Spoiler

An injury forced Conor McGregor out of his main event fight with Michael Chandler at UFC 303 on June 29.

Beyond the obvious impact on the card, International Fight Week, and the event's appeal, McGregor's removal will affect how UFC CEO Dana White promotes his top star moving forward.

White spoke with Sports Business Journal this week about McGregor and a few other topics, and he shared his approach to promoting the MMA icon in the future.

Dana White's New Strategy for Promoting McGregor​

White was asked if he was disappointed by McGregor's being forced out of UFC 303, and he said, "It's the business, man. This is the way it goes. And from here on, I'm not going to talk about it until when he's healed and he's right. Then we'll look at the landscape and see what we can figure out."
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbes-personal-shopper/people/jasonrich/
This could mean McGregor will be dropped onto a card with relatively late public notice. However, he and his opponent will be notified to allow for training and preparation.

White and the UFC will likely want McGregor, his opponent, and the camp to agree not to discuss the upcoming fight before a specific date so that they can do their best to protect against leaks.

I'm not sure how well that will work, but because of McGregor's volatile availability, it is an understandable adjustment to the promotion of his events.

McGregor hasn't fought since July 2021, when he suffered a broken ankle in his third fight with Dustin Poirier.

Between that time, there have been tons of rumors and posturing related to potential fights with Chandler and others, but the UFC 303 main event was the only one that wound up getting an official date.

By restructuring several events, the UFC rebounded well from McGregor's removal and other card changes. The changes now have Alex Pereira defending his light heavyweight title against Jiri Prochazka in a rematch as the main event of UFC 303. Diego Lopes will now face Brian Ortega in the co-main event as Jamahal Hill is out with knee injuries.

Hill was supposed to face Carlos Ulberg, but now Ulberg will fight veteran contender Anthony Smith. The UFC 303 main card still features the matchup between Michael Venom Page and Ian Machado Garry.

Impact on UFC's Marketing and Promotion​

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JANUARY 18: Conor McGregor prepares for his welterweight bout against Donald ...

Adding a future McGregor fight to the top of a card could have two effects. The UFC could add a McGregor fight to a solid card that is seemingly lacking the sort of main event that encourages a wave of fans to purchase.

Any McGregor fight is almost sure to put that card over the top.

The UFC could also add a McGregor fight to an already stacked card, pushing things to the extreme.

Because of the hoops that must be jumped through to secure any McGregor fight, it would be understandable if the UFC approached his next bout as if it were his last.

You never know with McGregor, but when he's available, he still moves the needle like no one else in the sport.

With that approach, watch the upcoming event at the Las Vegas Sphere in September. That would seemingly give McGregor more than enough time to heal from his injury, and it would set the stage that aligns with the massive nature of a McGregor-topped card.

There are still some potential risks of using McGregor on any card, but like White once said when asked why he puts up with the star's antics, "he's worth it."

Forbes suggesting Conor might get parachuted on to an event 'at late notice' lol

That is definitely not the ideal way to market such a huge star, but if he's unreliable due to potentially recurring injuries or whatever else (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, right Chael?) then this might be the only way.

Get ready for "A WILD CONOR TO APPEAR" all of a sudden for his next fight. Let's just hope that Wild Conor doesn't then flee!

What does this say about Conor McGregor's chances of fighting in the future? Anything?

Not to mention that he's not a young man anymore and has a lot more distractions these days from being idle rich. I would love to see him make a serious comeback but I think he's done as a championship caliber fighter. I can't say he won't ever fight again, and I won't underestimate his ability to market himself into a top level, maybe even championship fight, but it's hard for me to picture him holding gold again. Age, injuries, and being rich have taken away the focus and determination of a hungry Irish plumber with gold in his eyes.

 

[World eater]

Sadly, I think we will be hearing from him often and there will be a new thread for every single such post on social media.

 

[Young Calf Kick]

Waiting until "he's right..." Interesting choice of words.

nice lil Freudian slip there

 

[Arm Barbarian]

Until McCocaines next series of tweets gets Pink Pinnochios greed boner stiffened. Then he'll be right back on the "isn't he awesome" train.

 

[lweiberg]

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

@HI SCOTT NEWMAN not talking about you until I get that skittles bag back!!

My tummy hurts, you can have those Skittles back now, got a tummy ache. Feel like I got a little gas trapped as well

I'll instead drink a Skittle milkshake because that it different, it contains milk so it doesn't count

 

[Question]

Building a PPV around him at this point seems like a bad idea. Put him in the show but as a special attraction. He should used to get eyes on cards to build other stars at this point.

Good idea! A solid example of this is Leon/Nate on UFC 263 as the co-co-main.
Funny thing about Leon/Nate is the original date was set for UFC 262, however Nate got injured and it had to be pushed back. Luckily, unlike this current situation they had other fights to fall back on since they weren't the main event(Oli/Chandler was)

 

[Bobby Boulders]

Trying to ensure that whatever is being hidden isn't revealed, imo

 

[HavokHarmon]

It’s kind of nuts when you look at Conor’s fight career. He’s fought for 17 years. He fought 24 times in the first 9 years of his career and went 21-3. In the last 8 years of his career he fought 4 times going 1-3. If you count the Mayweather bout it’s 5 times at 1-4.

 

[CieloLuce]

Pussy move honestly.

Maybe to distract him. Get him to talk about Oscar de la Hoya again.


If you don't talk about it, how else are you to show that Conor was in the wrong to commit to a fight that he was unable to follow through on.

Whatever, this is what the UFC gets for banking on Conor.

 

[AldoStillGoat]

Until McCocaines next series of tweets gets Pink Pinnochios greed boner stiffened. Then he'll be right back on the "isn't he awesome" train.

McCocaine

 

[Jibsta69]

I think he only has one more fight left to use McGregor and might want it for a bigger fight and at the sphere or msg card. McGregor will be chasing a boxing fight with Paul after he’s done with UFC.

 

[IDGETKTFO]

So he is going to get the Brock Lesnar no testing pool treatment.

 

[don't ask]

@HI SCOTT NEWMAN not talking about you until I get that skittles bag back!!

Girl, what the heck is going on in your av? I expect cutesy anime babes, not Junji Ito nightmares!

I had a little speech I was preparing to give for an intervention, but, if it'll help you get your sassy avs back, I'll cross out Conor's name and write in yours.

 

[WildShrimper]

Him adding "and he's right" really makes it seem like it was booze/blow the needed to get clean from and not an injury lol

Wouldn't be surprised, that one video during his training camp where he was holding that beer and staring at it like a crackhead tipped me off that he wouldn't be fighting.

 

[Wilmer Digreux]

So he is going to get the Brock Lesnar no testing pool treatment.

Isn't he the reason they got rid of usada in the first place?

 

[TrueBias]

I'm not on board with the idea that he doesnt fight again because of his pride. As predicted, everyone forgot about roadhouse and he wasnt good in it.

Unsure about his whiskey sales, but if his steady income doesnt support his antics, then hell blow it all out.

However, YEAH, pride. Even though I've never thought he was anything elite, fight skill wise, he sure wanted to be and I cant see him ending it like this.

That said, dana is obviously sick of the questions because some shit has been going on since before 300. Everyone smelled the bullshit in the air and hes tired of keeping up with lies.

 

[VinceArch]

Good. Let him stay fucked off in Ireland or wherever.

 

[Thepaintbucket]

What's up everybody! Dana White here