Dana White discusses Conor McGregor’s next opponent amid Jake Paul challenges
Jake Paul/Instagram/Andrius Petrucenia/WikimediaUFC boss Dana White has been talking openly about Conor McGregor’s possible next opponent, and despite Jake Paul’s constant challenges to the former champ, it doesn’t sound like the YouTuber is in the picture.
Jake Paul has been in a very public back and forth with the UFC President over fighter pay, and has offered himself up for various boxing matches with former champions who made their name in the octagon.
One of those has been Conor McGregor, who’s no stranger to stepping into the boxing ring for a fight. In 2017, the Irishman took on the undefeated Floyd Mayweather, who went on to extend his run to 50 fights unbeaten.
With the ‘Problem Child’ putting himself firmly in the mix to fight McGregor next, all eyes have turned to UFC chiefs to answer the big question: who’s next for Conor?
Dana White eyes up Conor McGregor vs Nate Diaz 3
Andrius Petrucenia (Flickr)During an interview on the TMZ Sports TV show, Dane White said: “We’re still working on [the Diaz-Poirier] fight. That fight’s not done yet. I wouldn’t count out a Conor-Nate 3. Listen, I’d be shocked if that fight didn’t happen again.”
While he did not mention a timeline during the TV appearance, it would appear that the conclusion of the Conor-Nate Diaz trilogy is firmly in the company’s sights.
Whether this rules out a potential bout with Jake Paul any time soon remains to be seen, but it’s been a longstanding point of speculation.
McGregor responds to Jake Paul fight challenge
On February 25, McGregor responded to Paul’s challenges – and it has not been ruled out.
“Who knows?” McGregor said. “Never say never. I didn’t see the Woodley fight. It only did a couple thousand buys. I saw it online. I didn’t hear the diss track on Dana. I don’t pay attention to all of that.”
EXCLUSIVE: "It only did a couple of thousand buys – I wasn't watching!"@TheNotoriousMMA didn't hold back when asked about @JakePaul's brutal KO win over Tyron Woodley
Read more from our chat with Conor from #BellatorDublin tonight: https://t.co/QQxdoaWVV7 @BellatorMMA pic.twitter.com/0GiAD5brSx
— Mirror Fighting (@MirrorFighting) February 25, 2022
In Summer 2021, the former Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight and lightweight double-champion branded both Paul brothers “dingbats” and said he would be open to fighting them in the future.
With McGregor fighting Nate Diaz last in August 2016 and the score set at one apiece, there’s clearly a score to be settled there.