DANA WHITE admits he may struggle to get Conor McGregor back in the cage after his clash with Michael Chandler.
The Notorious will return to the octagon later this year for the first time since breaking his leg two years ago against the former three-time Bellator lightweight champion.
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McGregor’s clash with Chandler will be the penultimate fight of his multi-million-pound UFC contract, which White reckons may no longer motivate the mega-rich Irishman to continue fighting.
The veteran promoter said: “First of all, Conor called me a couple of days ago and loved the first episode of The Ultimate Fighter, and saying how happy he was to be a part of it.
“And I think being here and part of the environment and everything else, he felt it again and felt like he wants to get back to fight.
“The one thing you guys have to understand is this kid has so much money. It’s like Khabib [Nurmagomedov] now.
“These guys got s***loads of money and it’s hard to reel these guys in and get them to get in and fight.”
McGregor, 34, is the biggest star in the history of mixed martial arts and has crossed over into the mainstream and even Hollywood.
But White isn’t worried about the gaping hole the Dubliner will leave behind when he eventually decides to hang up his gloves, saying: “I never get concerned.
“We have a massive roster of people that want to come in and people that are ready to fight and people that want to be Conor McGregor. And be at that level.
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“It’s like for the last 20 years everybody said, ‘Oh my God, what are you guys going to do when Chuck Liddell retires?
“‘You guys are f****d. Oh my God. GSP [Georges St-Pierre]. Anderson Silva. This and that.’
“This is a professional sport. People come in here, they achieve great things and they retire. You can never worry about that type of stuff.
“It is what it is. It’s part of the game. And it’s my job and my team’s job to find new talent and build them.”
McGregor, however, has no intention of walking away from the sport anytime soon, saying: “I hope for a hundred more fights.
“I hope for consistency. I hope for a run. I’ve had this on, off, on, off for the last while.
“I just want to get this nice consistency going. And I’m hoping now when I come back this is where it’s at.”
McGregor and Chandler’s mouthwatering showdown will bring about the end of the rivalry built up on season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter, in which they were rival coaches.
A date for their clash has yet to be announced, although it’s expected to headline the UFC’s final pay-per-view card of the year.
And last week, it emerged that the promotion will return to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on December 16 for UFC 296.
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