Conor McGregor won't fight again in 2020, insists UFC president White

Las Vegas, August 4: UFC president Dana White said Conor McGregor will not fight again this year, while adding no bout is planned for the Irish star in 2021.

McGregor announced his decision to retire in June, having returned to the Octagon in January after a 15-month absence and knocked out Donald Cerrone at welterweight in just 40 seconds.

Former featherweight and lightweight champion McGregor had been planning to fight three times in 2020, however, the coronavirus pandemic scuppered that strategy.

And White insisted there are no plans for McGregor to return to UFC in 2020.

"This year, he is retired," White told Barstool Sports on Monday (August 3).

"He doesn't have a fight this year, and he won't have a fight this year. Conor McGregor will not fight in 2020.

"I'm not saying he won't fight in 2021, but I'm telling you we don't have a fight planned for him in 2021. But I guarantee you he will not fight in 2020. Conor McGregor is retired."

White added: "Do we all believe he'll stay retired? I think most of us don't believe that he'll remain retired, but let me put it to you this way: I owe fighters that are under contract with me three fights a year.

"OK? If I don't deliver those three fights a year, I have to pay them. Conor McGregor is retired, whether people want to believe it or not.

"He is not fighting right now, so when he's not fighting, I don't even think about him or what he's doing or any of that stuff on a business level. I'll still shoot him a text personally, but on a business level, he's out of the mix. He's not fighting at all. So everybody keeps asking questions about him, and I'm like, 'Manny Pacquiao? What the f*** are you talking about?"