Dana White Says Conor McGregor Did Not Get Ownership Stake to Return to UFC

Conor McGregor isn’t a co-owner of the UFC but it appears he’ll get a hefty pay increase instead.

Last year following his mega-fight against Floyd Mayweather where he reportedly raked in north of $100 million, McGregor said he wanted to become a partner with the UFC as well as a co-promoter for his future fights if he was going to return to the Octagon.

For his fight against Mayweather, McGregor’s brand — McGregor Sports and Entertainment — served as a co-promoter for the fight that ultimately became the second biggest pay-per-view event of all time. A few months after that fight ended, McGregor said he had to enjoy a similar situation with the UFC if he was going to return to mixed martial arts.

“They’ve got to entice me now because I came from a billion dollar fight,” McGregor said last November. “They’ve got to entice me. I want equity. I want ownership. I want to be a true partner, similar in the way I was in the Floyd fight. I was a promoter and I was a fighter, and that must continue for me to continue.”

Well despite McGregor’s hopes to gain equity or some sort of ownership share for his return to the UFC, it appears he just got a big paycheck instead.

UFC president Dana White confirmed on Tuesday that McGregor didn’t receive any of the demands he was seeking last year when attempting to negotiate his return to the UFC but it seems he did get a bigger payday to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov on Oct. 6.

“He’s not a part owner,” White said. “He might as well be though. He’s making so much f–king money. He’s making so much f–king money he might as well be a part owner.”

McGregor’s disclosed purse will be revealed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission ahead of his fight on Oct. 6 plus the former two-division champion will also receive pay-per-view compensation for what’s expected to be the biggest card for the UFC in 2018.

According to White, the deal to get McGregor into the cage with Nurmagomedov wasn’t all that difficult despite expectations that both fighters might have exorbitant demands.

“Not at all,” White answered when asked how hard it was to seal the deal for McGregor vs. Nurmagomedov. “If you look at when Conor’s deal got done in New York and when we announced the fight. Everybody wants to fight.”