Dana White is setting the record straight on what really happened to Conor McGregor’s knee during his return match. Speaking on a podcast with host Brianna Chickenfry, the UFC boss revealed that McGregor was dealing with a pre-existing injury, not a slip, when his comeback fight ended in a matter of seconds.
Chickenfry asked White directly about his reaction in the moment, referencing commentary from Joe Rogan suggesting McGregor may have simply slipped. White’s answer showed his read on the situation changed in real time.
“Yeah, I knew there was a problem. The first time I thought he slipped. The second time I said, ‘Oh, there’s something wrong with his knees,'” White said. “And then Max got on top of him and started, you know. I knew it was over.”
White also gave an update on his conversations with McGregor since the match, describing an athlete grappling with how to move forward after such a public setback.
“Yeah, he’s, as you can imagine, a guy who’s accomplished what he’s accomplished and, you know, as big of a star that he is, not just in our world, but in the sports world, he’s taking it hard. And how do you bounce back? You know, is he going to buckle down and get serious and really start to train to come back and fig ht again or is he just going to say, ‘You know what? It’s over.'”
Pressed on what he would do in McGregor’s position, White admitted it is a difficult call to make from the outside.
“I don’t know. It’s hard to put yourself in these type of positions as elite athletes cuz very few people are and very few people, you know, do what these people do, especially in fighting.”
Chickenfry offered her own blunt take, suggesting McGregor might be better off stepping away for good rather than risking another setback that could define his legacy. White did not push back hard on that idea, acknowledging that every athlete eventually has to make that call for themselves.
“Listen, everybody’s got to look in the mirror and pull the trigger on, you know, I think it’s over or I think I got one more. Usually the type of people that do what these guys do, it’s hard for them to walk away,” White said. “And it’s not just the money. Money’s a big part of it, but you know, when you walk through a tunnel and 25,000 people are going crazy, it’s a high that people like us could never imagine.”
