UFC news: Conor McGregor retirement U-turn, Khabib reveals fight talks, Woodley reflects
UFC NEWS - Express Sport brings you the latest headlines from the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Conor McGregor retirement claim from Dana White
UFC president Dana White has revealed he no longer thinks Conor McGregor has retired from mixed martial arts.
“No,” White said during an appearance on 8 News when asked if he believed that McGregor was truly retired.
“I think that there’s some things that Conor wants and I think that Conor wants to get together face to face, he and I, and we probably will in the next couple of weeks and we’ll get this thing figured out.”
White reckons McGregor’s primary goal now is to make as much money as possible, adding: “Listen, who gets respected more than Conor McGregor does? Come on.
“The guy’s never been disrespected, definitely not by me. And he’s got a lot of money too.
“But he’s stuck on this thing where he wants a piece of the ownership and that’s just — if you look at basketball, Michael Jordan didn’t own a piece of the league, and the list goes on and on.
“Is Conor very valuable to the sport and to the brand, the UFC? Of course he is. That’s a tough one, but I think there’s other ways that we can make him happy.”
Yes, we are working on this
Khabib Nurmagomedov hints at imminent fight announcement
UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has revealed negotiations over his return to the Octagon are underway and that an announcement for his next fight will be made in the near future.
"Yes, we are working on this," Nurmagomedov told RT Sport. "UFC told me that they are working on this.
“I just came back from Dubai. And very soon news is coming. Very soon.”
Tyron Woodley reflects on Kamaru Usman loss
Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley admits he didn’t realise the value of the title until he lost it to Kamaru Usman last month.
“Sometimes we can try and act like we got it all made and everything’s figured out, but s**t, I told myself I didn’t really worship the belt and I didn’t worship the belt,” Woodley said during an appearance on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show.
“But you don’t recognise until you lose the belt how many things were tied into the belt.
“How much opportunities and your platform and exposure, not to mention the amount of money you make and the pay-per-view [earnings].
“You know, not that I’m going to stop getting invited to cool parties or collab with some real G’s in music because of who I am. But you forget.”