The relationship between Conor McGregor and UFC brass seems to be on the mend.
McGregor said Thursday on ESPN that a Wednesday night meeting with UFC president Dana White and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta left things "in a good place."
"Good conversation like it always is," McGregor told ESPN's Kenny Mayne. "We have a good relationship. It is what it is. It happens. This is the fight game. Sometimes emotions get into it. But it's important to recognize that emotions have no place in business. That's essentially what it was last night. We just set it aside. There's no place for emotions in this. We are doing beautiful things. So let's continue. Let's fix it and let's continue."
McGregor, the UFC's biggest financial draw, met with White and Fertitta at the swanky Montage Beverly Hills. It was the first face-to-face meeting between the two parties since McGregor was pulled off the UFC 200 card last month, because he refused to fly to Las Vegas to fulfill scheduled media obligations. "The Notorious" said he didn't want to leave his training camp for that long, but would have compromised by doing one city of a three-city media tour and doing more press a few weeks later.
The UFC did not cave after McGregor explained his side of the story, even when McGregor surprisingly wrote on social media that he was back on the card. The brash Irishman started the whole controversy when he tweeted about retiring young.
McGregor's planned rematch with Nate Diaz still has no official date. Diaz beat McGregor by second-round submission at UFC 196 in March. McGregor remains the UFC's featherweight champion, because the Diaz fight was contested at welterweight.
On Thursday, Mayne asked McGregor where on a football field would his current relations with White and Fertitta be.
"Sitting in the middle," McGregor replied. "In a good place."
Mayne pressed McGregor, asking him if things are better than they were before.
"Yeah, of course," McGregor said. "Of course."
McGregor, 27, has been in Los Angeles for the last week working on his boxing, which has stoked the fire of rumors that he will compete in a boxing match against Floyd Mayweather Jr. Mayweather has fueled those talks as well, but the bout remains a pipe dream for many reasons.
Mayne's full interview with McGregor will air Sunday morning at 10 a.m. ET.
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