Dana White: McGregor not in my plans for next 10 months

The UFC and Conor McGregor appear to be at an impasse when it comes to the timeline for his return.

It was initially reported that McGregor would be out of the Octagon until early summer due to his longtime girlfriend, Dee Delvin, giving birth to their first child next spring. UFC president Dana White suggested that McGregor would be out 10 months from the time of his last fight at UFC 205 in November when he knocked out Eddie Alvarez in the second round to claim the UFC lightweight title.

However, McGregor has gone on record to deny that he ever gave White that timeframe and suggested that he’d only be taking the holidays off before stepping back into the Octagon.

Which one is it?

White addressed the situation during UFC 207 media day and reiterated his position.

“The last conversation Conor and I had, he was taking 10 months off,” White said. “Everybody keeps talking about Conor but I’m not even thinking about Conor. He’s not in my plans for the next 10 months.”

UFC president Dana White (L) laughs with Conor McGregor at a news conference last month in New York. (Getty Images)

It is possible that the time away from the cage was the reason that McGregor was forced to relinquish his UFC featherweight title that he won last December by knocking out Jose Aldo. McGregor hadn’t defended the title and the UFC decided to pull the title from him prior to UFC 206, where Max Holloway became the interim featherweight champion by defeating Anthony Pettis while Jose Aldo was elevated to full champion.

Either way, White wouldn’t budge on McGregor’s statement to him and promised that he would move forward without having the fight game revolve around McGregor’s impending return.

“We run a business where we make fights,” White said. “I know who is available and I know who is not available. Conor told me: “I’m not available for 10 months. We’re having a baby, my girl stresses out when I fight and I don’t want to put that on her. I respect it.

“He’s not in any of our plans for the next 10 months.”

As for McGregor’s stance that he’s awaiting a conversation with the new owners and owning a stake in the company, White said that McGregor knows what to do.

“When Conor is ready to talk, he knows where I am.”