Dana White says Conor McGregor is waiting on results of UFC 241 and 242

UFC President Dana White told reporters on Tuesday night that Conor McGregor is waiting to see how Anthony Pettis vs. Nate Diaz plays out at UFC 241, and how Dustin Poirier vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov plays out at UFC 242 before mounting his return.

Following Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, White spoke to the media and was asked about a potential return for the Irish superstar and said right now, it’s a wait-and-see situation with Conor McGregor.

“I don’t know. That I don’t know. See how Saturday goes, see how September goes, and then see what happens with Conor,” (via MMA Junkie).

This Saturday at UFC 241, one of McGregor’s former opponents and biggest rivals, Nate Diaz, makes his return after a three-year layoff to take on Anthony Pettis. Diaz has not fought since UFC 202 when he dropped a majority decision loss to McGregor in a rematch from their first fight.

Back in 2016 Nate Diaz exploded into the mainstream spotlight when he accepted a short-notice fight against McGregor and defeated him by second-round submission at UFC 196, handing McGregor his first loss in the UFC. As he prepares to make his return to the Octagon, Diaz has been very vocal about McGregor, saying the UFC spoiled the former champion.

As for Diaz’s opponent, Anthony Pettis and his team believe that if he is victorious at UFC 241, it could set up a future fight with Conor McGregor. Pettis’ head coach Duke Roufus recently said in an interview that “Showtime” had the style and persona of McGregor before the Irish superstar made his mark on the sport.

With Pettis and Diaz fighting at welterweight, if either of them could lure McGregor back into a fight, it would likely be at 170 pounds where “The Notorious” is 1-1 with both of those fights coming against Diaz. If Conor McGregor wants to return to the lightweight division, he’ll have to wait for the title unification fight at UFC 242.

Current lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov will take on interim champion Dustin Poirier to unify the title, with a potential fight with McGregor waiting in the wings afterwards. Nurmagomedov defeated McGregor in a grudge match that turned ugly when a post-fight brawl was sparked.

Conor McGregor has called for do-over with Nurmagomedov multiple times. Earlier in their respective careers, McGregor and Poirier fought in a featherweight contest which saw the McGregor win by TKO.

While both fights still have to play out, it appears that Conor McGregor will be watching these four fighters closely.

Who would you like to see Conor McGregor return against?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 8/14/2019.