Dana White has provided the latest update on Conor McGregor’s potential return.
White has planned to start putting together the UFC’s event at the White House early in 2026.
While he isn’t making any guarantees at this time, he’s made it pretty clear that there is one major star that he wants to headline the event.
Despite his best efforts, it doesn’t look like Jon Jones is going to convince White that he should be competing on this card due to his track record.
Conor McGregor has a history of pulling through for the UFC when they need him to, but there’s another huge question mark that hangs over his MMA career.
Dana White believes Conor McGregor is ‘dead serious’ about competing at the White House next year
Conor McGregor appears to be very serious about making his long-awaited return to the Octagon at the White House in 2026.
While it does look like ‘The Notorious’ has been dusting off the cobwebs, having shared multiple training videos, fans were still somewhat skeptical about his plans.
Many have already assumed that the former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion is done competing due to several factors.
McGregor did recently drop out of the Irish Presidential race, which takes one priority away from him, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t many other distractions that could get in the way of a UFC return.
In a recent appearance on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast, Dana White was asked whether he believes the former UFC star is committed and serious enough about a comeback for it to actually happen.
“He and I have been talking nonstop and he’s like, ‘I’m dead serious. I want this. I’m training, I’m back in the pool, I’m doing all the s—.’ So we’ll see. We’ve still got a long way to go.”
Dana White addresses whether the UFC has a star problem ahead of the White House event
Conor McGregor hasn’t fought since 2021 and yet, he still feels like the most likely option for the main event of the UFC’s event at the White House next year.
There aren’t many other options when looking at fighters that could headline a huge one-off event like this.
In recent times, there has been a narrative that the UFC has a star problem right now, with not enough big names on the roster to draw in more casual audiences.
White addressed this during his appearance on Impaulsive, referencing the promotion’s new $7.7 billion deal with Paramount to answer any concerns.
“When I listen to s— like we have a superstar problem, or we have this problem, or we have that problem, my response to that is believe me when I f—— tell you, we have no problems.”