Dana White Says He Told Conor McGregor Ownership Stake Was ‘Never Gonna Happen’

While Conor McGregor has on a couple occasions expressed interest in UFC ownership in the media, Dana White said he has never had a formal discussion with the Irish superstar on the topic.

However, the subject was broached during a recent text message exchange between White and McGregor. After the former two-division champion announced his retirement on Twitter early Tuesday morning, it was considered by many in the MMA community to be a negotiating ploy against the UFC. White denies that, but he did admit to TMZ sports that he briefly discussed potential ownership stake with McGregor.

“A lot of people were speculating that it [the retirement announcement] was posturing because of negotiations, but we really haven’t been negotiating that hard,” White said. “He said that [he wanted a UFC share] in Chicago. I saw that and he sent me a text.

“He said, ‘I feel like I should own a piece of the company.’ I said, ‘Conor you know that’s never gonna happen.’ This was a couple weeks ago.”

According to White, a face-to-face meeting with McGregor regarding UFC ownership hasn’t occurred.

“Conor has never come out, sat down with me and said, ‘I want a piece of the company. Here’s why.’ We’ve never had that conversation,” White said. “We did it in text a couple weeks ago. Like I said, I’ve never had a bad conversation with Conor McGregor in the entire time he’s been in this company. If he wants to retire, that’s his decision. When you talk about retirement, it’s probably something you should do if that’s what you’re thinking.”

If McGregor did seriously approach White about a share of the company, the UFC president said the fighter would have to do what virtually anyone else with such aspirations would have to do.

“If you want to own a piece of the company, you’d have to put up the money to buy a piece of the company. That’s how it works,” White said. “If you wanted to buy into the UFC right now, the valuation is pretty huge.”

The timing of McGregor’s announcement coincided with a New York Times report on Tuesday confirming that the fighter was the subject of an investigation for an alleged sexual assault in Ireland. That case was not addressed in TMZ Sport’s interview with White.

White did say that he wasn’t surprised at McGregor’s retirement announcement.

“I don’t know why everybody’s so shocked about it. Ever since the Floyd Mayweather fight, I’ve been saying, ‘You don’t know if this guy’s gonna fight again.’ He’s fought twice since he won [the UFC lightweight title] in 2016.”