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Conor McGregor? Welterweight titles?
Rumors are swirling that No. 3-ranked Welterweight contender, Jorge Masvidal, has the inside track on winning the latest Conor McGregor sweepstakes, welcoming the “Irishman” back to the Octagon later this year. But, according to UFC President Dana White, “Gamebred” — and McGregor fanboys worldwide — need to pump the brakes … at least for the time being.
“You can’t make ultimatums,” White said about Masvidal (via MMAFighting.com). “Listen, we’re going to offer him a fight, and if he accepts the fight, he does and if he doesn’t, he doesn’t.”
Masvidal lit the fuse when he appeared on Dan Lebatard’s syndicated ESPN radio show, claiming that “Notorious” was an “easy paycheck” because McGregor is a serial tapper. Then his manager, Abe Kawa, suggested that UFC was “protecting” McGregor from Masvidal’s “three-piece and a soda” face-punching deal. THEN … White said this after after UFC 240 a few days ago:
Dana White says Conor McGregor was unimpressed that the UFC president said Jorge Masvidal was “too big” for the Irishman. pic.twitter.com/mZsiKCPJfp
— TheMacLife (@Maclifeofficial) July 28, 2019
The good news is that White didn’t specifically rule out a fight between McGregor vs. Masvidal. In fact, he tweaked his first-ever “double champ” with some reverse psychology that has worked some magic in the past bringing him to the negotiating table.
White did confirm that Colby Covington — fresh off a dominant unanimous decision win over Robbie Lawler at UFC on ESPN 5 last weekend — will get the next title shot against Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman later this year. So with “Chaos” and “Nigerian Nightmare” locked up and McGregor “too small” for Masvidal, it would leave Leon Edwards as the most logical option on the table.