Dana White talks about Conor-Khabib rematch at UFC 246 post-event media conference
Conor McGregor made the most perfect comeback to the Octagon that he could have hoped for, knocking Donald Cerrone out 40 seconds into the fight at UFC 246.
In the post-event press conference, UFC President Dana White talked about the possibility of a rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov among other things, and why it makes way more sense than booking a fight with Jorge Masvidal.
Dana White: It's the fight that makes sense
Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov famously battled it out in 2018, which was also the Irishman's first Lightweight title defense. He not only lost the belt in a submission loss to Khabib but was out of the Octagon for more than two years after that, till his astounding comeback at UFC 246 against Donald Cerrone with a 40-second TKO.
McGregor has often expressed his wish to avenge the loss, especially because he believes he was not at his best game that night. White also said the same thing at the conference.
"Everybody wants to fight Conor. Everybody wanted to fight Conor for the last however many years. When you look at what makes sense... We're at a place right now where Conor was saying about going into the Khabib fight... He had lots of personal stuff - some stuff self-inflicted, he had injuries, he had all these things going on. And he has been obsessed with getting that rematch, because he knows that he wasn't a hundred percent right (in the previous fight)."
Being the 28-0 undefeated Lightweight Champion, Khabib's team has shown little to no interest in a rematch. However, White sides with The Notorious One on this one, because, according to him, it is the fight that makes the most sense, both for Conor as well as for the promotion.
Given the rise of Khabib since the first fight and the result of the Conor-Cowboy bout in Las Vegas, White believes the rematch would reach gigantic heights in terms of significance. He referred to a few legendary boxing matches like Hagler-Hearns, Ali-Foreman, and Ali-Frazier to make it clear how he feels about the fight.
"This is a massive fight with global appeal. It's the fight that you make. It's the fight that make sense. It's for the 155 pound title."
The reason why this fight is more appealing than a McGregor-Masvidal fight is the possibility of a belt exchanging hands, according to White. Although 'Gamebred' is the proud owner of the BMF title which McGregor has been eyeing for a while, it is not the same as a Championship.
"If Conor and Masvidal fight, then neither one of them even have a title. Although Conor does want his BMF title. But he doesn't have a World Championship."
Watch the video clip below:
White also hinted at the possibility of a McGregor-Mayweather rematch and said that it is in UFC's plans to make that fight happen again.