UFC 257: Dana White casts doubt over Conor McGregor’s future after shock defeat to Dustin Poirier

Dana White has cast doubt over Conor McGregor‘s future after the UFC supremo questioned whether the former two-weight champion had the ‘hunger’ to compete anymore.

McGregor made his highly-anticipated return after a year out of action to take on Dustin Poirier, with aspirations that a win could propel him towards a shot at the lightweight title.

However, Poirier, 32, poured cold water on McGregor’s plans with a sensational knockout to send shockwaves through the 155-pound ranks and leave doubts over where the Irishman goes from here.

Dana White has cast doubt over Conor McGregor’s UFC future after his defeat on Saturday

McGregor suffered a second round KO defeat to Dustin Poirier to send shock through the sport

And White has compared McGregor, who has enjoyed untold riches following his UFC success, to the storyline of Rocky III, in which the wealthy champion suffers defeat to a hungry prospect, and questioned the Notorious’ motivation.  

‘Look, there is too ways this goes – hungrier or I’m done, he’s got the money,’ he said in the post-fight press conference.

‘This is like Rocky III, when you get offered a 300 foot yacht, it is tough to be a savage when he is living like he is. 

The Irishman’s defeat represents a huge setback in his plans to regain the lightweight title

And White questioned McGregor’s ‘hunger’ following the 32-year-old’s shock defeat

‘When he was a young kid he was hungry, now he has got everything he ever wanted so i don’t know, it goes this way or that way.’

McGregor has earned lucrative sums since bursting onto the scene, including a mega-money payday after boxing Floyd Mayweather in 2017. 

The Irishman has business ventures outside of the UFC, including a whiskey business, as well as a fashion range. He owns a collection of luxury watches as well as an array of super cars.

White added that he had not spoken to McGregor but expects ‘in a few hours he will be blowing me up telling me a million things he wants to do.’

McGregor has earned lucrative sums following his spectacular rise to the top of combat sports 

The Notorious has spent time on this luxury yacht in the build up to Saturday’s fight

McGregor’s flat performance came at just the wrong time for White, who had been campaigning for a grudge rematch between the Irishman and Khabib Nurmagomedov, who had been looking for a ‘spectacular’ performance to tempt him out of retirement.

The UFC chief now admits that the prospects of a Nurmagomedov-McGregor bout have been severely damaged and that he would respect the Dagestani’s wishes if he opts to stay retired.

‘I did talk to Khabib and he said to me “Dana be honest with yourself, I am so many levels above these guys, I have beat these guys.”

‘It doesn’t sound very positive, so we will see. He won’t hold the division up. He is retired, I am the one who has been trying to make him do one more.’