Conor McGregor vs Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone ‘makes sense’ claims UFC president Dana White
CONOR McGREGOR facing Donald Cerrone on his octagon return “makes sense” according to UFC president Dana White.
The former two-weight UFC champion has not fought since his UFC 229 defeat against lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov, 30, in October.
Both men were suspended for their parts in the ugly post-fight brawl, though McGregor, 30, is now free to compete – while Nurmagomedov looks set for a September return.
With his UFC comeback imminent McGregor’s UFC boss White told The Jim Rome Show he would like the Irishman to face veteran Cerrone, who just beat Al Iaquinta, on his return in the summer.
White said: “He and I are getting together very soon, within the next week, and we’re going to figure out what’s next for him, I see him fighting this summer.
“The Cerrone fight makes sense, there’s a couple different options out there for him.
“He was talking about the Cerrone fight at one point. I don’t really know but that fight makes sense.”
Earlier in the year the UFC had plans to have McGregor face Cerrone upon his return to action.
But after the Irishman was told the bout would not be main-event, he was not interested.
McGregor’s time on the sidelines since defeat last year has seen him retire, arrested and clash with the UFC and rival Nurmagomedov online.
With the success of his whisky “Proper 12” and the money earned from a 2017 boxing cameo against Floyd Mayweather, White admitted it “interferes with your fighting career”.
White said: “Conor’s one of our huge stars, I said after the Mayweather fight, when a kid makes this kind of money, he may never fight again.
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“Look at how many times he’s fought since the Mayweather fight.
“That’s what happens. I don’t know if you read the business news but he just hit over $1billion in sales in his whiskey company.
“Conor McGregor’s doing really well financially and when you start doing really well financially, it definitely interferes with your fighting career.”