Dana White Responds To Criticism Of Booking Conor McGregor Fight Despite Sexual Assault Accusations

UFC president Dana White has fired back at those who have a problem with Conor McGregor being booked to fight despite a couple of sexual assault accusations coming out of Ireland.

McGregor will headline the UFC 246 pay-per-view (PPV) event from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, January 18, 2020. The Irishman returns at 170 pounds against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Speaking in an interview with Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole, White was asked about the criticism he has received for booking McGregor to fight despite the sexual assault allegations.

White said he didn’t even know there was criticism for the booking, and noted that the allegations against McGregor are only just allegations, and McGregor hasn’t been charged with anything. He won’t stop someone from making a living based solely on accusations. (H/T BJPenn.com)

“I didn’t even know (about the criticism),” White said. “He hasn’t been charged with anything. You can’t accuse somebody and stop them from making a living when they haven’t even been charged of anything.

“Conor McGregor has made a lot of bad decisions in the past several years. He has paid for it. He walked into court and plead guilty to punching that guy in the face in Ireland. He paid for the slapping of the phone out of the thing. He attacked the bus and paid for that.”

White indicated he wasn’t sure where things stood in regards to the sexual assault allegations against McGregor, but noted, had he been charged with something, McGregor probably wouldn’t be fighting.

“He’s obviously done some things,” White said. “He’s been charged and paid and done everything he’s supposed to do. These other things, first of all I don’t even know. Has it said that he’s the guy that’s being accused?

“Listen, if he was being charged with something right now. It would be a different story. The New York Times have wrote those stories, but there are no other stories out there about Conor McGregor.”

What do you make of White’s response to the criticism of booking McGregor to fight despite sexual assault accusations?