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LAS VEGAS – Dana White has a lot on his plate these days.

With resuming the UFC’s event schedule amid an ongoing global pandemic, while dealing with the daily ins and outs of the fight game, the UFC president has plenty to handle. In the lead up to Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 9, White spoke to reporters on Friday afternoon about the various matters pressing the company today – including the future of some of their most notable fighters, as well as the company’s business ventures and projects.

Below is a transcription of White’s updates on Conor McGregor’s return, Henry Cejudo’s retirement, and more. Check out video of the full session above.

UFC on ESPN 9 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The event airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.

White unsure of Conor McGregor’s potential July return

“Unless there’s an absolute miracle and the world turns around in the next three months, which I don’t see happening – people are crazy right now over this thing – I don’t know (if McGregor will fight). I don’t know anymore. Since this thing started, I’ve been trying to get ahead of it and get ahead of it and get ahead of it. And every time we thought we got ahead of it, the next day it would change. I’m not going to sit here and act like now that it’s all starting to come back, I know what’s going to happen 30 days from now, because I don’t.

“I’m in the same boat as everybody else. I’m just trying to think ahead and figure this thing out and be aggressive – be aggressive, but be smart about it.I highly doubt (McGregor will lower his asking price to fight). I’ve got guys hammering me for more money right now. Apparently they don’t watch the news and know we’re in a pandemic. That isn’t their problem.”

White on Henry Cejudo’s retirement and potential comeback if offered more money

“It wasn’t (a negotiating tactic). He’s been talking about retiring. This guy’s been a professional athlete his entire life. I think he’s tired of cutting weight. Everybody wants to make it a money issue.

“Ask Henry what he made in his last fight, if he wants to tell you. I had this argument this morning on ESPN. If he wants to tell you, ask him what he made – and then you’ll probably realize it wasn’t a money issue.”

White on status on ‘Fight Island’

“‘Fight Island’ is in a great spot. I’m not announcing where it is until – I think the fantasy of ‘Fight Island,’ I don’t want it to eclipse the reality of ‘Fight Island.’ The fans and the media have run away with this thing. We’re not saying anything about ‘Fight Island’ until we have some damn good images of ‘Fight Island.’

“I saw an ESPN plane flying in to the island (online) and stuff like that.I think people have this idea of tiki torches and me sitting in some huge throne watching the fights. It’s fun. It’s cool. But sometimes the fantasy eclipses the reality of it. I’ll have (a target date for it) next week.”

White on future of Zuffa Boxing

“I’m not interested in that right now. We’re in a place right now where we’re all trying to get our businesses back up and running. I’m not even thinking about boxing anymore right now. I’m worried about this (MMA) business right now.

“We’re in a place where I’d have told you four months ago you could put an 8th grader in charge of Disney and you couldn’t mess that up. Disney is such a big, bad-ass, powerful company – no movies, no people at theme parks, and no live sports on ESPN. Who would’ve thought that would ever happen? The one thing I’ve learned through this is, you never know. So many different things can happen to your business overnight, and even the untouchables can get hurt.”