Rumors of Jose Aldo pulling out of UFC 194? 'Not true,' Dana White says

MELBOURNE, Australia – If you have tickets for next month’s UFC 194 pay-per-view and are worried about the main event falling apart, UFC President Dana White has some encouraging news.

Following rumors that featherweight champion Jose Aldo (25-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) will be forced to pull out of next month’s title-unification bout interim champ Conor McGregor (18-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC), White delivered some good news at Friday’s Q&A session with fans.

“That’s not true,” White said. “Somebody said that earlier.

“No, Aldo’s good to go, man. Aldo’s coming.”

The fight, which takes place Dec. 12 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena, features Aldo, who’s No. 1 in the NOS Energy Drink MMA featherweight rankings, vs. No. 2-ranked McGregor. And it’s likely to be a record-breaker.

In fact, McGregor could help break a record he set earlier this year at UFC 189. Facing Chad Mendes for the interim belt at the July 11 event, McGregor helped produce a U.S.-MMA record attendance of 16,019 and a hefty $7.2 million gate.

“This gate’s at $9 million for the Aldo-McGregor fight,” White said of UFC 194. “And people, every time I bump in to people, they’re like, ‘I got tickets!’ I’m like, ‘How the hell did you get tickets to that?’ It’s a tough fight to get tickets to.”

So when an Irish fan requested a pair of tickets to the card, White couldn’t oblige.

“Listen, there’s one event this year I don’t have tickets to (give out to fans), and that’s the one,” he said. “There’s no tickets (left) for that one.”

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