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Dana White says Conor McGregor winning at UFC 246 is ‘crucial’ for his career and future.
Dana White is out promoting his next pay-per-view offering, and one of the talking points for UFC 246 is how Conor McGregor hasn’t been motivated in recent years after earning over a hundred million already.
“He has been training hard, he has been getting ready for this moment,” White said on the Stephen A. Smith show. (via MMA Mania) “The problem is, Stephen A. you’ve seen this, not just in fighting but in other sports, when a guy has 100 and something million dollars, he’s young, he’s famous and now he is unbelievably rich, it is hard to keep the train on the tracks for some guys. That has definitely been Conor McGregor.”
While discussing McGregor’s supposed newfound “motivation,” White revealed that he is hoping his biggest star could fight three times in 2020, but defeating a guy like Cerrone would be ‘crucial’ to his career.
“I think he is at a point now where he realizes he needs to get his act together. This win over ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone if he can pull it off is crucial in his career right now and his future. So, he is taking it very serious, he wants to stay active. That is why this fight is at 170 and hopefully we will get three good fights from him this year.”
McGregor is currently a -225 favorite over Donald Cerrone, with most pundits thinking it’s a style match up that really favors the former two division champion. As White sort of implied though, if McGregor still loses this one as well, they might as well scrap all their big money plans, as they’ll never know when — or if — he will fight again after.