Dana White breaks his silence after Conor McGregor is 'removed' from UFC weeks after returning to testing pool

Dana White has broken his silence over claims that Conor McGregor has been removed from the UFC roster.

McGregor hasn't fought in the UFC since July 2021, when he lost to Dustin Poirier via first-round TKO.

He was scheduled to return to the promotion at UFC 303 against Michael Chandler, but their June 2024 fight was cancelled after McGregor suffered an injury in training.

David Feldman, McGregor's business partner in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) promotion, revealed last month that the Irishman had re-entered the mandatory UFC drug testing pool.

Feldman told DAZN: "He whispered in my ear, 'I'm in the testing pool, I'm getting ready to make my comeback. I'm going to fight on that [White House card, announced by US President Donald Trump]. Then I'm going to have another fight, and then we can talk'.

That appeared to be a key indication that McGregor will fight in the UFC again - but matters took a bizarre turn on Thursday afternoon.

Twitter account UFC Roster Watch, which updates when fighters are added, suspended or removed from the UFC roster via the company's statistics website, posted that McGregor had been removed from the roster.

Image: Twitter/@UFCRosterWatch

The post took many people by surprise, given that there appeared to be no prior indication that McGregor was due to be removed from the roster.

As per Happy Punch, White has already responded to the rumours on Instagram.

Replying in a comment to another post, the UFC President left no-one in any doubt by simply writing: "Total BULLS***."

It isn't unclear whether McGregor's removal was down to a technical error.

Only on Wednesday, White appeared on the 'Pardon My Take' podcast in which he addressed McGregor potentially competing on a planned UFC card to be organised by President Trump.

He said: "If you see, he's been posting videos of himself training. He's back in the [drug testing] pool now. He wants the White House card.

"Listen, if he starts getting in shape and training, and stays the course, that's the fight he wants. He keeps telling me he wants the fight. So we'll see how it plays out."