White says ‘hell no’ to Masvidal-McGregor battle

UFC welterweight Jorge Masvidal has expressed curiosity in combating Conor McGregor subsequent, following his record-setting 5-second knockout over Ben Askren at UFC 239 in Las Vegas.

When requested for his ideas on the potential matchup, nonetheless, UFC president Dana White reduce to the chase.

“Hell no,” White informed TMZ. “Masvidal is just too large for Conor. There’s loads of fights for [Masvidal] in his weight division with out Conor. He is too large for Conor. [McGregor] would not belong at 170 [pounds]. He is obtained the balls to battle at 170, however he would not belong there.”

In response to Masvidal’s (34-13) agent, Abe Kawa, Masvidal is just keen to face McGregor or welterweight champion Kamaru Usman subsequent. Usman doesn’t have a battle scheduled in the meanwhile.

McGregor (21-Four) is a former 145- and 155-pound UFC champion. He has fought as excessive as 170 kilos twice, in back-to-back fights towards Nate Diaz in 2016. He has fought solely as soon as within the UFC previously 32 months — a submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2018.

In response to White, the UFC expects McGregor to return both later this yr or early in 2020. McGregor has publicly known as for a rematch towards Nurmagomedov, who presently holds the 155-pound championship, however White has hinted McGregor will probably need to battle another person.

Nurmagomedov (27-Zero) is scheduled to defend his title towards interim champion Dustin Poirier (25-5) at UFC 242 on Sept. 7. The results of that battle may have an effect on McGregor’s subsequent transfer.

“I feel [McGregor] might be again this yr or early subsequent yr,” White mentioned. “We’ll see how this entire factor performs out in September. No, [McGregor won’t get a rematch with Nurmagomedov], however it’s going to shake numerous issues up whoever wins that battle.”