Conor McGregor has outlined his pay demands for the potential UFC event at the White House, saying he wants “$100m” and “100 US ‘Golden Visas’”.
McGregor has expressed a strong desire to fight at the White House next summer, in an event that UFC president Dana White has been planning with US president Donald Trump. McGregor has even insisted he will be on the card, facing Michael Chandler.
Trump, a friend of White, said earlier this year that he wanted to celebrate 250 years of his country’s existence by holding fights at the White House. And White, 56, recently said a breakthrough had been made and even shared mocked-up images of an Octagon on the South Lawn.
On Thursday (25 September), McGregor tweeted: “$100million to fight at the White House along with 100 U.S ‘Golden Visas’ for myself and family and friends.
“I look very forward to entertaining the fighting world once again. A pleasure I never take for granted!”
McGregor, 37, has not fought since July 2021, when he suffered a broken leg in his second straight loss to old rival Dustin Poirier.
Last week, the Irishman announced he was giving up on trying to become president in his home country – for now, at least – as he tweeted: “Following careful reflection, and after consulting with my family, I am withdrawing my candidacy from this presidential race.
“This was not an easy decision, but it is the right one at this moment in time.”
McGregor rose to fame in 2015, when he knocked out Jose Aldo in 13 seconds to win the UFC featherweight title. In 2016, his shock defeat by Nate Diaz and close win in their rematch saw his star rise even higher, before he won the lightweight belt before the end of the year. In doing so, “Notorious” became the first dual-weight champion in UFC history.
A 2017 boxing match with the legendary Floyd Mayweather, which ended in a stoppage loss for McGregor, derailed the Irishman’s mixed martial arts career for some time, and his 2018 return to the cage ended in a famous submission by fierce rival Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Since 2016, McGregor is 1-3 in the UFC and his legacy has been affected by legal issues outside the Octagon; the most recent episode, in November, saw a civil jury find that he sexually assaulted a woman in 2018. McGregor continues to deny the allegations against him, but he failed when appealing the verdict.
Former two-weight champion Jon Jones is among the other UFC fighters to have sought a place on the White House card, though he has had his own issues with the law – while also failing numerous drug tests in the UFC.
As such, White dismissed Jones’s calls for a White House fight, saying he did not “trust” the American, and that the odds of him fighting on the South Lawn are “a billion to one”.
