Dana White reveals why Conor McGregor still features in official UFC rankings
UFC President Dana White has finally revealed why Conor McGregor still features in the official UFC rankings despite having announced his retirement. Conor McGregor left the MMA world in shock when he announced his retirement from MMA on June 6.
“The game just does not excite me, and that’s that,” McGregor told ESPN shortly after announcing his retirment on Twitter. “All this waiting around. There’s nothing happening. I’m going through opponent options, and there’s nothing really there at the minute. There’s nothing that’s exciting me.”
While most fight fans believe that McGregor's recent retirement will be shortlived, Dana White has claimed that the Irishman’s retirement is actually legitimate, and that he’s not planning fights for McGregor because the latter is currently retired.
“He is retired,” White told Barstool Sports earlier this month. “Conor McGregor is not fighting. He is retired. I have no plans.”
Despite Dana White saying that the prolific Irishman is retired, Conor McGregor still holds a position in the UFC lightweight rankings even though he hasn’t fought since 2018. Conor McGregor also holds a rank in the UFC’s pound-for-pound top 15.
Speaking with the The Schmo recently, Dana White explained why McGregor has been able to keep his spots in the UFC rankings even though other fighters like former bantamweight and flyweight champ Henry Cejudo haven't been included in the rankings.
“I don’t know the answer to this, but Cejudo probably dropped out of the USADA testing pool and Conor’s probably still in it.”
Conor McGregor was last seen inside the octagon in January when he fought Donald Cerrone and notched up another violent KO win before the pandemic wreaked havoc on the Irishman's plans of fighting at least thrice in 2020. Now that he's retired, UFC president Dana White said that he's not looking at any possible matchups for Conor McGregor.