Conor McGregor and Dana White
Conor McGregor is negotiating a new deal but the possibility of him never fighting is real, according to Dana White Getty

KEY POINTS

  • McGregor was expected to unify the titles against Tony Ferguson at UFC 219.
  • White admitted the Irishman may never fight again although he is currently in negotiations over a new deal.

UFC president Dana White has revealed that while Conor McGregor is negotiating a new deal, there is always the possibility of him never fighting again.

McGregor was expected to defend his UFC lightweight title following his boxing endeavours that saw him lose to Floyd Mayweather back in August.

A unification bout with interim champion Tony Ferguson was due to happen at UFC 219 on 30 December. However, nothing came to fruition.

The Irishman's behaviour at Bellator 187 all but ended any hopes of returning to the octagon in 2017 after he attacked a referee and a staff member.

Speaking about McGregor's actions and a possible punishment, White claimed that a fight at UFC 219 was indeed going to happen, before revealing the bombshell that the 29-year-old may never fight again.

"The punishment, you know. He was being dealt with by the head of the ABC," White told reporters at a recent media luncheon.

"And we were gonna fight him... regardless what [McGregor's agent] Audie [Attar] says, we were working on a fight for him at the end of the year. And he's just not ready.

"We're still in that... Conor might never fight again. He's got a f****n' hundred million dollars. Fighting's the worst. Try to get up and get punched in the face every day when you have a hundred million dollars. Money changes everything with a lot of people. So, we'll see."

White then surprisingly claimed Ferguson had no business talking about "Notorious" and him defending or vacating his title as he added that a new deal is being worked out for McGregor.

"Right now with him, it's not about defend or vacate," White explained. "We're working on a new deal right now with him."