Dana White: Conor McGregor will be watching UFC 242

For a time, it sounded as though former two-division UFC champ Conor McGregor might attend the UFC 242 card this weekend in Abu Dhabi, which is topped by a fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier.

According to UFC President Dana White, however, McGregor will not be attending the card. He will, however, be watching the pay-per-view.

“He won’t be here,” White told ESPN reporter Brett Okamoto. “I talk to Conor, normally, twice a month. I talked to him last night, this morning. No, he won’t be here. But he’ll be watching.”

White was then asked what he and McGregor were talking about during their latest chat.

“He was talking about my sunburn yesterday, so we’re not talking about anything serious,” White laughed.

Conor McGregor recently partook in an interview with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, during which he stated that he’d like to fight this year. White, however, isn’t sure what the future will bring for the Irish mixed martial arts superstar.

“I don’t know,” White said. “I honestly don’t know. It’s all going to depend on his hand [injury] and how fast it recovers.”

There has also been some discussion of McGregor getting a shot at the winner of the UFC 242 fight between Nurmagomedov and Poirier, yet White says that opportunity will go to Tony Ferguson.

“If Tony Ferguson’s ready (he gets the next title shot),” White said. “Tony Ferguson has been offered opportunities before that he hasn’t taken. If Tony’s ready, then yeah.”

All that to say, the fact that McGregor plans on watching UFC 242 implies that he’s still watching the lightweight division closely, perhaps to see where he fits into the contendership situation.

Do you think Conor McGregor will ever fight again?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 9/4/2019.