As noted, Dana White appeared on ESPN SportsCenter earlier to announce Conor McGregor had been pulled from the UFC 200 pay-per-view event following McGregor ‘retirement’ Tweet.
White shared his side of the story, saying Conor was pulled due to him to refusing to participate in any promotional events, which was taking place in Las Vegas. White said McGregor was in Iceland training instead, but he was not exempt from missing the Las Vegas events, which is being attended by the rest of the UFC 200 fight participants.
White briefly commented on McGregor’s retirement status, adding:
“Is Conor McGregor retiring? Only he can answer that question. I don’t know. But he will not be a part of UFC 200.”
White said that a replacement fight is being planned for UFC 200, but sources have told Sporting News’ Steven Muehlhausen that UFC is in panic mode and “scrambling” for a new main event for UFC 200.
Even though White offered his explanation earlier tonight, it’s still been speculated as to exactly why the fight was called off if it was only for McGregor skipping the Las Vegas events, or if there’s more to the story. According to TMZ, McGregor’s refusal to particpate in the press conference and promote the fight was what got the fight called off, whereas Back Talk Ball host and sports journalist Charly Arnolt was told by one source that McGregor was asking for close to $10 million for the fight, which UFC turned down.
