UFC president Dana White has admitted it can be 'hard to reel in' mega-rich fighters like Conor McGregor ahead of his return to the cage.
McGregor is set to fight Michael Chandler later this year after an almost two-year absence, with the pair first coaching against each other on The Ultimate Fighter. And while White admitted it can be difficult to tempt someone like McGregor to return to fighting, the Irishman is now desperate to get back in the octagon.
"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," White said. "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."
Despite announcing back in February that McGregor's return fight would be against Chandler after The Ultimate Fighter, a date has still not yet been set. A major part of that is down to the fact McGregor left the USADA testing pool while recovering from the broken leg he sustained in his last fight against Dustin Poirier in July 2021.
That meant the 34-year-old was not subject to drug testing and regulations state that a UFC fighter needs to provide two clean tests across a six-month period before USADA will allow them to step in the cage. There has been no official confirmation that McGregor has even re-entered the testing pool yet, but White has insisted he is not worried.
"I never get concerned," he said. "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."
