When the Nevada State Athletic Commission decided to fine Conor McGregor $150,000 and hand him 50 hours community service, they probably didn’t expect the Irishman to blackball the state.
UFC President Dana White said on Wednesday that the massive fine, along with other punishments for McGregor’s involvement in the UFC 202 pre-fight press conference bottle-throwing war has forced the featherweight champion to blackball the state for future fights.
White seems to be sided with McGregor relating to the punishment saying it was ‘unnecessarily harsh’ when appearing on “The Herd” with Colin Cowherd on FOX Sports 1.
“I wasn’t thrilled about it when it happened, and we did the best we could to contain it at the time, but come on,” White said. “The other problem with that is Conor McGregor hit me yesterday and said, ‘I don’t ever want to fight in Nevada again. Ever.’
“Now how does that make sense for the state of Nevada? That you’re going to try to fine this kid and Nate that much money, it just makes people not want to come fight in our state and that’s not a good thing.”
McGregor’s next blockbuster fight, luckily, is located outside of Nevada. ‘The Notorious’ will head to New York in November to challenge lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez for his belt at UFC 205.
Nevada, and in particular Las Vegas, has long been the home of the UFC and it’s biggest fight cards. McGregor’s two fights this year in the state alone drew a combined $15.7 million gate total.
Whether McGregor sticks to his word or not remains to be seen, but Dana White noted that the Irishman ‘doesn’t need’ to fight in Nevada.
“Guess what? Conor McGregor doesn’t need Nevada,” White said. “He can fight anywhere. He can fight in Iowa. We can put his fight on an island off the coast of anywhere. This makes no sense for the state. It’s just terrible.”
Other than tweeting “I get fined more than these bums get paid” after the NSAC decision, McGregor hasn’t directly spoken out on the matter. I’m sure we’ll hear more in the lead up to UFC 205, though.
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