Dana White: If victorious, Conor McGregor gets fight at 80,000-seat Croke Park

Conor McGregor’s dream of headlining a stadium show in his native Ireland will apparently come to fruition if the interim featherweight champion successfully unifies the belts at UFC 194.

According to UFC President Dana White, a McGregor (18-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC) victory over reigning 145-pound champ Jose Aldo (25-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) at UFC 194 will set up his next bout for Dublin’s famed Croke Park stadium, which holds more than 80,000 spectators.

“If he beats Jose Aldo in Las Vegas in December, the next fight will be in Croke Park,” White told the NRL Footy Show in Australia. “We told him he could defend his title at Croke Park.”

UFC 194, which plays host to Aldo vs. McGregor, takes place Dec. 12 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

McGregor and Aldo were scheduled to fight at UFC 189 in July, but “Scarface” withdrew from the fight less than two weeks prior to the event when he suffered a rib injury in training.

Chad Mendes replaced Aldo and lost to McGregor via second-round TKO in an interim title matchup. The original fight was billed as one of the biggest in UFC history, but the Aldo injury put it on hold.

Fortunately, McGregor won and set up an even more significant showdown with Aldo, which was originally discussed for the massive AT&T Stadium in Dallas.

White has mentioned Croke Park as a potential venue in the past, but the logistics of hosting such an event are complex, as White explained earlier this year.

“There are a lot of obstacles for Croke Park,” he told MMAjunkie in January.

Most notable of those obstacles is the time difference. For PPV shows, the UFC wants to stick to its 10 p.m. ET start times. To do that, the event’s main card would have to kick off at 3 a.m. local time in Dublin.

“They have a curfew at night where you can’t get permits to stay out that late and do an event there,” he said.

However, there are also other issues for the company’s bottom line.

“You lose about 25 to 30 percent on pay-per-view being in another country,” he said. “The amount of money for production for Croke Park, being outside – I can guarantee you it’s going to rain. I’m not a meteorologist, but I’ll bet you it’s going to rain.”

The Dallas-area stadium show didn’t materialize, but White said Croke Park is a realistic option given McGregor’s current global popularity.

“Ronda (Rousey) is definitely the biggest star that we have in the UFC, but Conor is nipping at her heels, that’s for sure, especially in Australia” White said. “His last fight in Las Vegas, eight percent of ticket sales went to Australia. That’s a massive number. So it’s crazy.”

For more on UFC 194, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.