“He didn’t want to (show up),” said White. “He’s in Iceland and felt that leaving right now would hurt his training to get ready for this fight but every other fighter on the card is coming.
“I get accused of coddling Conor all the time but at the end of the day, I respect Conor. He is a guy who has stepped up and taken the fight on short notices and literally saved the show at times but it doesn’t make you exempt from showing up for the press conferences and all the pre-promotional stuff that we have to do.
We spend a lot of money on this stuff and you have to do it, it’s mandatory.”
He added: “This has only happened one other time in UFC history, it’s when Nick Diaz didn’t show up for the press conference for his fight with George St Pierre and I pulled him from the fight.
“We’ve had other instances where guys didn’t want to do the press conference. You have to do the press conference.
“Conor put out that tweet. Is Conor McGregor retiring? Only he can answer that question, I don’t know. But he’s not fighting at UFC 200.”
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With rumours surfacing earlier this year there was a rift between the pair, this latest incident is likely to spark further speculation but White insisted that they still have a good relationship, saying he respects McGregor “as a fighter and as a person”.
The reasoning behind McGregor’s strange decision remains unclear. He and his camp, currently training in Iceland ahead of Gunnar Nelson’s bout with Albert Tumenov at UFC Fight Night 87 on 8 May, have gone relatively quiet since the announcement – although team-mate Peter Queally sent this Instagram from Reykjavik.
It has been suggested that this is merely a power-play by McGregor to push for a bigger purse for the Diaz rematch.
However, the recent death of Portuguese fighter Joao Carvalho at an event in Ireland, which McGregor was attending to support Carvalho’s opponent, SBG team-mate Charlie Ward, may also have affected his thinking.
What next?
Whatever the case may be, it leaves the UFC now scrambling to fill their main event.
White says they are planning to sit down with Diaz to decide on a new match-up over the coming days and it will be interesting to see who steps in if they do in fact go down that route with the likes of Cub Swanson, Dustin Poirier, Donald Cerrone and Diego Sanchez all putting their names forward.
Nate Diaz v Robbie Lawler/Rafael dos Anjos
Lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, who was set to face McGregor at UFC 196 in March until Diaz stepped in after he broke his foot, could be an option to replace The Notorious.
A legend in the sport, George St Pierre has been out of action since taking indefinite leaving back in 2013 but has been rumoured for a much-anticipated return to the Octagon for some time.
A comeback for GSP, potentially against Lawler or Diaz, would certainly make headlines and the Canadian indicated on The MMA Hour earlier this week that he is in the best shape of his life at 34.
This match-up has already been confirmed for UFC 200. They met once before three years ago at UFC 156 when Aldo claimed victory by decision.
Their rematch is scheduled as an interim featherweight title fight with McGregor the current champion, but if the UFC takes his retirement at face value, isn’t there an argument to make it for the vacant title?
Jones v Cormier II
Jon Jones was supposed to be making his comeback against Daniel Cormier at UFC 197 this weekend, but the light heavyweight champion was forced to pull out with a foot injury.
Ovince Saint Preux replaces him at the MGM Grand on Saturday night, and victory for Jones would set up a rematch nicely.
Rousey v Holm II
Neither fighter currently holds the women’s bantamweight title after Miesha Tate’s win over Holm last month, but a second bout between the former champions could be on the cards — although Rousey’s return might be put off until a title match-up with Tate at the first UFC event in New York this November.
McGregor v Diaz II
Alternatively, if the disagreement is genuinely over a contract dispute, the UFC could always focus its efforts on finding a solution to get McGregor back on board with many believing the fight will still go ahead.
Who would you like to see in the headline bout at UFC 200?
The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!
Where does the UFC go from here after McGregor's 'retirement'?
AS IF YOU haven’t already heard, the MMA world has been rocked by news that Conor McGregor’s participation at UFC 200 is in serious doubt.
Set to face Nate Diaz in a rematch at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on 9 July, the featherweight champion sent Twitter into a frenzy last night by tweeting that he had “decided to retire young”.
The claims appeared to be backed up by light-hearted comments made by SBG coach John Kavanagh on Twitter and Facebook, while respected MMA journalist Ariel Helwani stated that multiple sources were convinced it was no hoax.
UFC president Dana White then confirmed that the promotion had pulled the Dubliner from this summer’s milestone event after he had refused to attend the press conference and media obligations scheduled for this Friday.
“He didn’t want to (show up),” said White. “He’s in Iceland and felt that leaving right now would hurt his training to get ready for this fight but every other fighter on the card is coming.
“I get accused of coddling Conor all the time but at the end of the day, I respect Conor. He is a guy who has stepped up and taken the fight on short notices and literally saved the show at times but it doesn’t make you exempt from showing up for the press conferences and all the pre-promotional stuff that we have to do.
He added: “This has only happened one other time in UFC history, it’s when Nick Diaz didn’t show up for the press conference for his fight with George St Pierre and I pulled him from the fight.
“We’ve had other instances where guys didn’t want to do the press conference. You have to do the press conference.
“Conor put out that tweet. Is Conor McGregor retiring? Only he can answer that question, I don’t know. But he’s not fighting at UFC 200.”
With rumours surfacing earlier this year there was a rift between the pair, this latest incident is likely to spark further speculation but White insisted that they still have a good relationship, saying he respects McGregor “as a fighter and as a person”.
The reasoning behind McGregor’s strange decision remains unclear. He and his camp, currently training in Iceland ahead of Gunnar Nelson’s bout with Albert Tumenov at UFC Fight Night 87 on 8 May, have gone relatively quiet since the announcement – although team-mate Peter Queally sent this Instagram from Reykjavik.
It has been suggested that this is merely a power-play by McGregor to push for a bigger purse for the Diaz rematch.
However, the recent death of Portuguese fighter Joao Carvalho at an event in Ireland, which McGregor was attending to support Carvalho’s opponent, SBG team-mate Charlie Ward, may also have affected his thinking.
What next?
Whatever the case may be, it leaves the UFC now scrambling to fill their main event.
White says they are planning to sit down with Diaz to decide on a new match-up over the coming days and it will be interesting to see who steps in if they do in fact go down that route with the likes of Cub Swanson, Dustin Poirier, Donald Cerrone and Diego Sanchez all putting their names forward.
Nate Diaz v Robbie Lawler/Rafael dos Anjos
Lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, who was set to face McGregor at UFC 196 in March until Diaz stepped in after he broke his foot, could be an option to replace The Notorious.
The Brazilian defeated Diaz in December 2014 but would be open to a rematch according to his manager Al Abdel-Aziz. Welterweight champion Robbie Lawler is also worth considering as he’s available.
Robbie Lawler/Nate Diaz v George St Pierre
A legend in the sport, George St Pierre has been out of action since taking indefinite leaving back in 2013 but has been rumoured for a much-anticipated return to the Octagon for some time.
A comeback for GSP, potentially against Lawler or Diaz, would certainly make headlines and the Canadian indicated on The MMA Hour earlier this week that he is in the best shape of his life at 34.
Frankie Edgar v Jose Aldo II
[image alt="UFC 156 MMA" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2016/04/ufc-156-mma-8-630x459.jpg" width="630" height="459" title="" class="alignnone" /end]
This match-up has already been confirmed for UFC 200. They met once before three years ago at UFC 156 when Aldo claimed victory by decision.
Their rematch is scheduled as an interim featherweight title fight with McGregor the current champion, but if the UFC takes his retirement at face value, isn’t there an argument to make it for the vacant title?
Jones v Cormier II
Jon Jones was supposed to be making his comeback against Daniel Cormier at UFC 197 this weekend, but the light heavyweight champion was forced to pull out with a foot injury.
Ovince Saint Preux replaces him at the MGM Grand on Saturday night, and victory for Jones would set up a rematch nicely.
Rousey v Holm II
Neither fighter currently holds the women’s bantamweight title after Miesha Tate’s win over Holm last month, but a second bout between the former champions could be on the cards — although Rousey’s return might be put off until a title match-up with Tate at the first UFC event in New York this November.
McGregor v Diaz II
Alternatively, if the disagreement is genuinely over a contract dispute, the UFC could always focus its efforts on finding a solution to get McGregor back on board with many believing the fight will still go ahead.
Who would you like to see in the headline bout at UFC 200?
The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!
Conor McGregor has been pulled from his upcoming fight at UFC 200
Conor McGregor tweet sparks furious speculation about early retirement
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Conor McGregor Dana White MMA Options UFC UFC 200