Dana White Explains Conor McGregor’s Decision to Fight at 170, Confirms Star Wants to Scrap Jorge Masvidal

A few folks were a bit surprised when it was announced that Conor McGregor will battle Donald Cerrone at welterweight in his much discussed return. But, recently Dana White provided some insights on why the controversial star has gone that route.

White comments on McGregor’s decision to fight Cerrone at 170

Although the news that McGregor will battle Cerrone in a welterweight contest, Januar 18th, wasn’t exactly earth shattering, it did raise some eyebrows. After all, McGregor hadn’t said much publicly about fighting at welterweight, and he’s also repeatedly called for a rematch with the UFC lightweight champ, Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Well, speaking of Khabib, during a recent talk with 101.6 FM in Washington D.C., White reportedly said this (quotes via MMA Junkie):

“Conor is going to fight at 170 for this fight,” White said, “mainly because he doesn’t want to have to cut the weight to 155. Him and Cerrone have both fought at 170.”

“He’s hoping that he beats Cerrone and can turn right around and fight Khabib as quick as possible,” White said. “So he didn’t want to make the cut twice.”

So, all of this makes sense. Especially since the UFC 246 headliner wasn’t announced until recently, and because Cerrone isn’t a big welterweight either. In other words, since both parties agreed to fighting at 170, why go through that weight cut?

White confirms McGregor wants “Gamebred”

For sometime now, there’s been plenty of buzz regarding the possibility of Jorge Masvidal fighting McGregor. Initially, White said Masvidal was too big for Conor, but more recently the UFC President’s seemed open to that fight (which would be massive).

During the same, aforementioned interview, White said this about Masvidal vs. McGregor (quote via MMA Junkie):

“Conor has told me he definitely wants a fight with Masvidal,” White said. “So we’ll see what happens.”

Now, Jorge has repeatedly made it clear he’s down to fight McGregor. So, if McGregor gets by Cerrone then you would think the UFC will take a look at this. That said, there’s also been extensive talk and speculation about Masvidal fighting Nick Diaz.

The other piece to this is what happens with the UFC’s lightweight title.

Nurmagomedov is booked to fight Tony Ferguson on April 18th. If Khabib wins, however, it would be kind of surprising if he agreed to fight McGregor next. The champ’s stated that McGregor needs to record several wins before earning another title shot. Would a victory over Cerrone, who has currently lost two straight, change his mind? Considering Nurmagomedov has said he’s set financially, and that he’s repeatedly expressed an interest in fighting Georges St-Pierre?