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UFC's Dana White Denies He 'Ripped' Conor McGregor: 'Media Is So Full of S--t'

Adam Wells

UFC President Dana White ripped the media Friday for misconstruing previous comments he made about Conor McGregor. 

During a press conference, White denied he "ripped" McGregor and called the media "so full of s--t" for a statement he made about McGregor potentially being used as a replacement for Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 249 against Tony Ferguson (warning: contains graphic language):

On Sunday, McGregor told ESPN's Ariel Helwani he decided to retire from fighting because "the game just does not excite me" anymore:

"They should have just kept the ball rolling. I mean, why are they pushing [Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje] back to September? You know what's going to happen in September, something else is going to happen in September, and that's not going to happen. I laid out a plan and a method that was the right move, the right methods to go with. And they always want to balk at that and not make it happen or just drag it on. Whatever I say, they want to go against it to show some kind of power. They should have just done the fight -- me and Justin for the interim title -- and just kept the ball rolling."

White said on First Take this week that McGregor "had the opportunity" to move into the main event spot at the May 9 pay-per-view, but McGregor decided against it by telling White he's "not a replacement fighter."

Nurmagomedov announced April 1 he wouldn't be traveling to the United States to defend the lightweight title due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. 

UFC put Gaethje in the main event on the pay-per-view, with the winner of his bout against Ferguson being awarded the interim lightweight title. Gaethje defeated Ferguson by TKO in the fifth round. 

White has said UFC is looking at a September date for a championship unification bout between Nurmagomedov and Gaethje. 

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