White raises doubts over McGregor’s future in UFC after conversation with legend

DANA WHITE has admitted it is hard to “reel” a super-rich star like Conor McGregor back into fighting again.

McGregor is set to make his UFC return this year against Michael Chandler after the pair coached on The Ultimate Fighter.

But still no date or venue has yet been announced while the Irishman has also faced drug-testing concerns.

McGregor – who claimed he has made $650MILLION in his career – spoke to White after the first episode of reality show TUF aired.

And while the UFC president sensed some excitement in his company’s biggest star, his future will always remain in doubt.

White said: “First of all, Conor called me a couple days ago and loved the first episode of The Ultimate Fighter, and saying how happy he was to be a part of it.

“And I think being here and part of the environment and everything else, he felt it again and felt like he wants to get back to fight.

“The one thing you guys have to understand is this kid has so much money. It’s like Khabib now.

“These guys got s***loads of money and it’s hard to reel these guys in and get them to get in and fight.”

McGregor, 34, has not fought since July 2021 when he broke his leg against Dustin Poirier, also 34.

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Due to his hiatus from the octagon, he was out of the UFC’s year-round random United States Anti-Doping Agency tests.

And before returning to fight, he must submit six months worth of clean tests.

But White revealed McGregor is set to join USADA’s testing pool – yet there has been no confirmation of his re-entry.

It has thrown doubt over the former two-weight champion’s return – although White remains calm on the matter.

He said: “I never get concerned.

“We have a massive roster of people that want to come in and people that are ready to fight and people that want to be Conor McGregor.

“And be at that level. It’s like for the last 20 years everybody said, ‘Oh my God, what are you guys going to do when Chuck Liddell retires? You guys are f****d. Oh my God. GSP. Anderson Silva. This and that.’

“This is a professional sport. People come in here, they achieve great things and they retire. You can never worry about that type of stuff.

“It is what it is. It’s part of the game. And it’s my job and my team’s job to find new talent and build them.”