Ahead of Fight Night: Bisping v Silva, Conor McGregor once again was the topic of conversation as Dana White explained the process of replacing Rafael Dos Anjos ahead of UFC 196.
Speaking with MMA journalist Ariel Helwani, White also talked about the rumours that there was a potential rift in his relationship with McGregor as the Dubliner's star shines even brighter.
"Where has there ever been any signs of a rift between Conor and I? Where? Not only is there not a rift between Conor and I, I don't know who I respect more than him as a fighter. The kid has my absolute and total respect."
"There are a lot of things that are said in public but it's the private conversations that are the ones that matter. Everything that Conor McGregor says in public is 10 times more hardcore in private and I have ultimate respect for that," said White.
White went in-depth into the process of selecting RDA's replacement, with Frankie Edgar, Jose Aldo and Urijiah Faber all offered the fight on 11 days notice.
"The first two guys we were going after were Jose and Frankie Edgar to take the fight at 155lb. But then I started getting calls from BJ Penn, Pettis and Urijah Faber was in the running too.
"Urijah and I probably talked more than any of the other fighters.That one was really close.
"But then talking to Nate is always interesting so we were going back and forth and we thought Nate Diaz was the fight to make. It's the fight fans wanted to see.
McGregor's desire to fight anyone at any weight class reminded White of the older day's of MMA, saying that the current featherweight champion reminds him of Chuck Liddell, who was a guy that 'just wanted to fight.'
"I've been doing this for 16 years in the UFC and I've been in the fight business for a long time.
"You don't pick up the phone and have conversations anymore with guys like you have with Conor McGregor.
"There's a lot of people that talk publicly – 'I'll do this, I'll do that, I'll fight anybody'. Nobody really means it when you're on the phone and you're not in front of a press conference or doing interviews.
"This guy means it. He's moving from 145lb to 170lb and he keeps this fun, man. He will literally fight anybody.
"When we called him and told him what was going on. First he was like 'you got to be kidding me' when he heard Dos Anjos broke his foot.
"And then he was like, 'alright well I'm getting to the gym now. I'll fight anybody. You pick, I'll fight anybody. Call me tomorrow and let me know who I'm fighting.'
"There's no reason to make this shit up. This guy is the real deal. When you pick up the phone and talk to a guy and he's like this it's a throwback. He reminds me of Chuck Liddell and these guys that just wanted to fight.
You can watch the interview below, where White also discusses tonight's middleweight fight between Anderson Silva and Michael Bisping in London.
Source: Youtube/MMAFightingonSBN
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