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Dana White bites back at Conor McGregor: ‘It’s one of the dirtiest things you can do.’

Dana White at UFC 249 post-fight press conference
Dana White at UFC 249 post-fight press conference

UFC president Dana White gives his biggest star, Conor McGregor, a lot of leeway most times. It appears the Irishman crossed an invisible line recently.

White responded to a recent tweet in which McGregor posted screenshots of a private messaging conversation between the two earlier this year.

McGregor was tweeting about how he had asked for a fight with Diego Sanchez and how the White quickly shot down the idea. McGregor was trying to explain how he had tried to line up several fights this year, but grew tired of the UFC not lining them up quickly enough. That eventually led to him announcing his retirement in June.

Outing the conversation publicly didn't sit well with White, who commented about it after UFC 253 on Saturday night on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.

"This is some man-code stuff. It's just something you don't do. It's one of the dirtiest things you can do," White said.

He also went on to criticize McGregor asking to fight Sanchez. Though Sanchez won the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter and is in the UFC Hall of Fame for his spectacular fight with Clay Guida in 2009, he hasn't been a legitimate contender in any division for the past decade.

Diego Sanchez is exciting, yes. Fans typically love to watch him fight, but McGregor is still near the top of the lightweight division. White questioned McGregor's logic.

"When you're the number two or three ranked guy in the world and you're telling me that you want to fight, but you want to fight un-ranked, 39-year-old Diego Sanchez in a main event in Los Angeles?"

https://twitter.com/TheNotoriousMMA/status/1309554699671080960


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Around the same time he was tweeting about asking to fight Sanchez, McGregor also tweeted about his next fight... although he has insisted to this point that he is retired.

Seemingly, another slap in the face of the UFC, McGregor tweeted, "Anyway all water under the bridge who gives a fook. I’m boxing Manny Pacquiao next in the Middle East."

White said that he had "no idea" how valid a fight between McGregor and Pacquiao might be.

Although McGregor publicly retired from fighting, he remains under contract with the UFC. So any bout with Pacquiao would need the promotion's blessing to move forward.

Though he didn't address such a possibility, White curtly pointed to McGregor's supposed retirement.

"You guys have been asking me about Conor McGregor forever. Did you see Conor McGregor's tweet? The retirement tweet. I'm retired - birthday cake - I'm retired."


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