Dana White to Meet with Conor McGregor to Get UFC Retirement 'Figured Out'

UFC President Dana White has said he doesn't believe Conor McGregor is truly retired and that he will probably meet with the former two-weight champion soon and "get this thing figured out."

McGregor, 30, was expected to return to the Octagon this summer but announced his retirement via Twitter for the second time in his career March 26. 

However, White thinks he can change the Dubliner's mind, and he told 8 News Now's Game On! that he wasn't treating McGregor's latest exit from mixed martial arts seriously: 

When asked if he believed McGregor is genuinely retired, White replied: "No, I think that there's some things that Conor wants, and I think that Conor wants to get together face to face, he and I, and we probably will in the next couple of weeks. We'll get this thing figured out."

The Notorious first announced he was leaving MMA in April 2016, nearly two months after he lost to Nate Diaz in their first meeting. However, he released a statement via Facebook cancelling his departure within two days, going on to defeat Diaz by decision in their rematch that August.

The former featherweight champ then beat Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight crown—his third bout in 2016—to become the UFC's first simultaneous two-weight titleholder. In the two-and-a-half years since, his only UFC fight was a one-sided fourth-round submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov (Oct. 2018).

ESPN's Brett Okamoto appeared on SportsCenter soon after McGregor's latest withdrawal from competition and said he wasn't convinced by this retirement, either:

McGregor has seemingly hung up his gloves with other ventures to keep him busy, including those in the alcohol industry with his Proper 12 whiskey and Champ Champ wine interests.

Securing UFC stock is also known to be one of McGregor's major desires. He recently tweeted he intended to challenge actor Mark Wahlberg for his shares in the company (via Tamar Lapin of the New York Post):

White spoke to TMZ on the day of McGregor's retirement and said the fighter will not be given shares in the UFC:

Although the UFC chief has put up a strong front since The Notorious made a second exit, he's likely to be affected by the sudden loss of one of his greatest assets, albeit a recently inactive one.

Neutral fight fans will be happy to have one of the sport's biggest entertainers back on the roster if White can smooth things, though The Notorious may be more serious this time.