Dana White: Conor McGregor doesn’t want to fight in Nevada again

When Conor McGregor phoned into the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NAC) hearing on Monday, October 10th, chances are he was expecting to walk out with a slap on the wrist. Perhaps not an insignificant one, but something along the lines of the $9,000 Daniel Cormier got fined for his presser brawl with Jon Jones. At maximum, maybe the $50,000 that Jones got hit with for that same incident.

And while it may have started out that way, with a $25,000 fine propsed by the State Attorney General, McGregor walked away with something closer to a punch in the teeth; a whopping $150,000 fine.

As a result, Dana White told Colin Cowherd over on Fox Sports’ “The Herd” that Conor McGregor isn’t all too keen on fighting in Nevada again.

“The only problem with that is,” Dana White said in answer to a question about the UFC star, “Conor McGregor hit me yesterday and said, ‘I don’t ever want to fight in Nevada again. Ever.’ Now how does that make sense for the state of Nevada, that you’re going to try and fine this kid – and Nate – that much money. It just makes people not want to come and fight in our state and that’s not a good thing. And guess what!? Conor McGregor doesn’t need Nevada. He could fight anywhere. He could fight in Iowa, okay. We can put his fight on an Island off the coast of anywhere… and it just makes no sense for the state.“

For many, it’s exactly the response expected from McGregor after his experience with the NAC. His fine is one of the largest – alongside Anderson Silva’s whopping $380,000 hit for a set of failed drug tests – that the commission has ever passed down to an MMA fighter. If McGregor really does follow through on his plan to never fight in the state again, their desire to make an example out of him in the short term may have cost them more in the long term.