Dana White Says Conor McGregor Has to Do Some 'Soul-Searching' if He Eyes UFC Comeback After Injury

UFC president Dana White doesn't believe it's a guarantee that Conor McGregor will fight again after injuring his knee at UFC 329 just seconds into his bout against Max Holloway.

"McGregor has to have knee surgery. Then he's gonna have to go through physical therapy and a doctor's gonna have to give him a sign-off on when he can start training hard again. He's got a lot of things to figure out in his head, in his life, before he starts thinking about boxing or UFC again," White told TMZ Sports. "It's gonna be a long comeback for him if he decides that's what he wants to do. He's got a lot of soul-searching [to do], find that fire that he used to have, and we'll see how that plays out."

White previously deflected away from questions about the potential for McGregor's next fight or completing the Holloway trilogy, citing what will likely be a long injury layoff for the veteran fighter.

"He is absolutely getting knee surgery, and everybody in this sport knows the timeline and how that all plays out," he told reporters. "So any McGregor questions or rematch questions don't even make sense."

McGregor, 38, has won just one of his last five UFC fights. His brief dalliance against Holloway was his first appearance in the Octagon in five years.