Conor McGregor doesn't want to fight in Nevada anymore after 'terrible' fine, says Dana White

The Nevada State Athletic Commission’s decision to fine UFC champ Conor McGregor an amount of $150,000 and hand him 50 hours of community service could be costly for the state in the long run.

According to UFC President Dana White, the fine and other punishment related to McGregor’s (20-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) involvement in the UFC 202 pre-fight news conference bottle-throwing incident with his camp and that of opponent Nate Diaz (19-11 MMA, 14-9 UFC) has caused the Irish superstar to lose his desire to compete in Nevada.

The punishment, which was handed down to McGregor on Tuesday, was unnecessarily harsh, White said today on “The Herd” with Colin Cowherd on FS1. And apparently it frustrated “The Notorious” to the point where he would like future fights to be located elsewhere.

“I wasn’t thrilled about it when it happened, and we did the best we could to contain it at the time, but come on,” White said. “The other problem with that is 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 to fine this kid and Nate that much money, it just makes people not want to come fight in out state and that’s not a good thing.”

McGregor’s next fight won’t take place in Nevada. The UFC featherweight champ is scheduled for a lightweight title showdown with Eddie Alvarez in the main event of UFC 205, which takes place Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Although Nevada has long been the home base for the UFC and its biggest fights, McGregor, who was a key contributor in drawing near record-setting gates of $8.1 million (UFC 196) and $7,692,010 (UFC 202) in Nevada this year alone, has drawn his name from consideration.

Whether he sticks to his guns remains to be seen, but White said it’s entirely possible he does, mainly because McGregor simply doesn’t need to fight in the state.

“Guess what? Conor McGregor doesn’t need Nevada,” White said. “He can fight anywhere. He can fight in Iowa. We can put his fight on an island off the coast of anywhere. This makes no sense for the state. It’s just terrible.”

McGregor has stayed relatively quiet on the issue outside of a reactionary tweet sent out not long after his hearing concluded.

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