Dana White ‘absolutely’ expects Conor McGregor & Khabib Nurmagomedov rematch
Yesterday, it was announced that Khabib Nurmagomedov will defend his lightweight title against Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi. There, Poirier will look to be the first person to give the Russian a loss. It will also be the first time since the Conor McGregor fight that Nurmagomedov will return to the Octagon.
Although Ali Abdelaziz has shut down talks of the rematch, for now, UFC President, Dana White says a rematch is something Conor wants.
“Conor wants that fight. Conor wants the rematch with Khabib,” White said about McGregor when appearing on ESPN’s SportsCenter (transcribed by MMAFighting.com). “All these guys have been fighting, again, this thing’s going to play out this weekend and then Sept. 7 in Abu Dhabi, and then we’ll figure out what’s next for Conor.”
Not only is it a fight McGregor wants, but it is also a fight that the Las Vegas-based promotion want. The first fight did huge pay-per-view numbers and was one of the biggest combat sports fight in history. For those reasons, White believes the rematch could happen soon.
“I could, I absolutely could [see a rematch],” White said when pressed about the possibility of Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor 2.
Many think for McGregor to get the rematch he will need to first win a fight. And, although he ‘retired’ White says he is still training.
“He’s training,” White said about McGregor. “Obviously we’ll sit back and we’ll watch how this whole thing plays out with these fights and see where Conor fits in and what he wants to do next.”
Ultimately, there are many moving parts in the lightweight division like Donald Cerrone vs. Tony Ferguson happening this weekend. However, it appears that if the former champion in Conor McGregor wants the fight, he could very well be getting that rematch sooner rather than later.
