Dana White has gotten a lot of flak for how he praises Jon Jones all the time. But he’s always maintained that while Jones was a nightmare to do business with, Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey were his favorites to work with.
And honestly, it makes sense. The two were the first global UFC superstars after all. In fact, the Irishman single-handedly made White and the UFC more money than any other athlete.
McGregor’s stardom transcended the UFC, attracting fans from all over the globe and breaking all existing PPV records. McGregor actually holds 8 out of the top 10 highest PPV buys in UFC history. Naturally, ‘The Notorious’ has a good relationship with the UFC brass.
But the last time he fought was in 2021 in a losing cause. And in the four years since then, the Irishman has chosen to be in limbo, promising a return that never materializes. So as fans continue to call him out on it, the Irishman has shared a video to prove he’s not flaking out on them.
This video is from an interview with Lex Fridman on his YouTube channel, where the UFC president spoke about how easy it was to work with ‘The Notorious’.
“I’ll tell you what Conor McGregor never did, he never walked into a room and said, ‘Conor this guy just fell out we want you to fight this guy,’ and he was like no way, I’m not taking this f*cking risk,” White claimed.
— THE UFCGUY (@the_ufcguy) May 7, 2025
In fact, according to White, this is the exact trait that brought him so much success in life. Another aspect of doing business with McGregor that White really liked was that back then, the Irishman wasn’t fussy about scheduled fights not working out. Nor would he ever try and haggle for a better contract.
“No matter how big he was or whatever it was, ‘Oh Conor this guy just fell out, Aldo fell out. Yeah I’ll do it but I’m gonna need another f*cking two hundred thousand, I’m gonna need another million dollars. Conor McGregor never did that kind of chicken sh*t,” White claimed.
It is perhaps this reason that he remains the highest-paid fighter in the UFC by a country mile. However, it should be noted that most of McGregor’s earnings have come from selling his whiskey business and real estate deals, which have earned him a net worth in excess of $200 million.
And McGregor isn’t someone who’s been too humble to flaunt his wealth either. The Irishman boasts of a plethora of expensive cars and watches. Interestingly, the watches have never really helped him that much.
McGregor’s never on time
Flashback to 2016, ‘The Notorious’ was headlining Madison Square Garden, taking on Eddie Alvarez for a shot at becoming the first UFC double-champ.
It would be expected of him to prioritize this event over anything else, but when the fighters arrived for the pre-fight press conference, McGregor was the only one missing. When he did show up, he danced into the stage and famously said, “Sorry I’m late I just don’t give a f*ck!.”
When Conor McGregor said he was late to a presser because he was at the strip club pic.twitter.com/hePvnPdAZU
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) August 2, 2024
And that was the only problem White had with the Irishman – his punctuality.
“Put a gun to my f*cking head and said, ‘Tell me all the bad things about Conor McGregor’. I’d say the guy doesn’t show up on time, that’s it,” the UFC boss laughed.
But this was then. Since he broke his foot fighting Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 last year, the Irishman has no inclination towards making a comeback into the Octagon, even though there are still a couple of fights left on his contract with the promotion.
The closest he came was against Michael Chandler for UFC 303, but pulled out at the 11th hour, claiming a broken toe was stopping him. Since then, he has claimed to have been satisfied with everything he’s achieved in his fighting career and has repeatedly expressed a desire to run for Irish presidency.
