Dana White Talks Khabib Being ‘The Man’, Options For McGregor

There has been a palpable power shift in the UFC over the past one year, and Dana White has now confirmed that Khabib is “the man”, dethroning Conor McGregor.

There was a time when Conor was the undisputed king. Whether we talk in terms of pay-per-view numbers, or disclosed payouts, everyone wanted to fight Conor. While the Irishman is still one of the biggest names in the sport, Khabib Nurmagomedov has now become ‘the face that runs the place’, at least according to Dana White.

‘Eagle’ defeated ‘Notorious’ last year at UFC 229, effectively becoming the face of the promotion. While McGregor continues to call for a rematch for the lightweight title, White told The Boston Globe that it isn’t up to Conor to call for a fight with Khabib.

“Khabib is the man now”, White said (via MMA Junkie). “Conor isn’t the man anymore, so Khabib gets to sit back and call the shots.”

However, there is no denying the fact that McGregor is still a major PPV draw. While it isn’t up to Conor to fight for the lightweight title, Dana said he could face Justin Gaethje next, or even the winner of Jorge Masvidal – Nate Diaz at UFC 244.

“Next month at Madison Square Garden, we’ve got Diaz vs Masvidal, sold out”, White said. “So whoever wins that fight could fight McGregor. We’ve got ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone, we’ve got Justin Gaethje, but what Conor wants right now really is the Khabib rematch. So we’ll see how that whole thing plays out.

“But if you’re Khabib, you got the Tony Ferguson fight, George St. Pierre wants to fight, and you’ve got the Conor McGregor fight.”

George St-Pierre recently admitted that he would come out of retirement, if it were to face Khabib.

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