Dana White Won’t Try to Tone Down Trash Talk If He Makes Khabib vs. McGregor 2

The bad blood between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor boiled over in a post fight brawl after they finished fighting at UFC 229 but if a rematch is made, neither fighter will be told to tone it down.

That’s according to UFC president Dana White, who hasn’t decided yet whether or not he’s going to make the immediate rematch but he’s not going to try to police what his fighters say to each other even if the fight does happen.

Nurmagomedov was noon too happy that McGregor routinely insulted his father, his manager and felt like the Irishman also went after his Muslim faith in the lead up to their fight. The toxic atmosphere between the fighters erupted in even more violence after Nurmagomedov leapt over the cage following his win over McGregor and attempted to go after one of his corner men.

Now both fighters face potential punishment from the Nevada Athletic Commission over the brawl.

Still, White says fighters have a history have saying nasty things to each other in the lead up to a fight and he’s not going to try to change Nurmagomedov or McGregor for the sake of avoiding another altercation like the UFC 229 melee.

“Well my philosophy on this stuff is that this a fight,” White said when speaking to ESPN. “Since the beginning of time people have said mean things to each other in a fight, no matter what. Muhammad Ali called Joe Frazier an Uncle Tom, back when that was one of the worst things you could say to a guy. He called him a gorilla; ‘it’s gonna be a thriller and a chiller when I get the gorilla in Manilla,’ and things like that. And for the rest of his life, he [Frazier] hated Muhammad Ali, hated him for the things that he said about him.

“This is not the nice business, this is the fight business, this wasn’t the first time that mean things were said to another person and it won’t be the last.”

White added that he still hasn’t decided what’s next for Nurmagomedov or McGregor, although a rematch is amongst the possibilities for the reigning lightweight champion.

First things first, Nurmagomedov and McGregor have to appear before the Nevada Commission in December for a hearing that will decided what kind of potential penalty they might face for the post fight brawl in October.

After that’s concluded then White says he’ll get down to business and figure out what’s next for each of them.

“I don’t know if the immediate rematch happens because we got to see what the Nevada State Athletic Commission hands down in December when that hearing happens,” White said. “So I’m not even thinking about that, I’m thinking about possibilities in the future but, right now, not even worth thinking about until we find out what happens in Nevada.”