Dana White Reveals Most Likely Scenario For Conor McGregor’s UFC Return

It seems no one knows Conor McGregor’s next move. Not even UFC president Dana White.

McGregor said recently he plans to continue fighting despite earning a ton of money from his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather Jr. It’s unclear when McGregor will fight next, but White said Thursday on FS1’s “Undisputed” that he’s hopeful the UFC star will return to the octagon this summer.

So, who will McGregor fight upon returning to the cage?

Well, although there’s been some chatter about a superfight with Georges St-Pierre or a trilogy fight with Nate Diaz, McGregor’s next opponent will be Tony Ferguson if White gets his way.

“What we have to do is, he needs to defend that title,” White said, referring to the UFC lightweight championship McGregor won from Eddie Alvarez in his last mixed martial arts fight at UFC 205 in November 2016. ” … Tony Ferguson is the fight right now and is the move if (McGregor) wants to come back.”

White did propose another possibility while discussing McGregor’s future with the promotion, though. Khabib Nurmagomedov is scheduled to face Edson Barboza on Saturday night at UFC 219, and there’s a chance the winner of that fight could square off with Ferguson — who defeated Kevin Lee for the interim lightweight championship at UFC 216 in October — for the right to face McGregor.

Then again, you never know what to expect from McGregor, although White doesn’t foresee there being a hang-up in how much The Notorious is compensated for his next fight.

“Money is always a factor, but we’ve never had a problem getting a deal done with Conor McGregor. I don’t see that being a problem,” White said. “The question is, does he want to come back and do it? No matter how much money you make, I always feel like with certain people you can only go on so many vacations, there’s only so much stuff you can buy and then you’re ready to get back to the grind, hopefully.”