UFC president Dana White has revealed he was in 'a really bad place' with Conor McGregor after the Notorious leaked private Instagram messages.
The Irish fighter was frustrated by failed talks to book a second fight in 2020 and shared a private conversation with White on Twitter last September.
White admitted that he was annoyed by Conor's actions, but was more annoyed by the fact the messages showed they were talking about another fighter Diego Sanchez.
He told ESPN : “We were in a really bad place then, I was really upset. It wasn’t because he put out private messages.
"We were talking about another fighter. And I like Diego Sanchez. I have a lot of respect for Diego Sanchez.
"I care about Diego Sanchez. I talked to Diego face-to-face about it, and being the great human being he is, we’re all good."
McGregor and White eventually have reconciled which has led to Conor headlining the promotion's first pay-per-view card of 2021.
Dana added: “I was really upset with Conor, but we fixed that and now we’re all good.”
White believes that the Notorious Dubliner is fully focused for his January 23rd rematch with American Dustin Poirier.
Conor knocked out the American in the first round of their September 2014 bout.
Dana White said: "The questions are always: ‘This guy is so rich, how hungry is he?
“There’s nothing more exciting or fun than a motivated Conor McGregor, when his head is in the right place.
"And you can tell when he is and when he isn’t, and right now, he’s in.
"My conversations with Conor, I know when the real Conor is here and the other Conor is here, and believe me when I tell you, the real Conor is here.
“If something happened to Dustin Poirier, he is the Conor McGregor right now that doesn’t give a s*** who we put in that fight.
“He’s going to be, ‘Who’s ready? Who you got? I’m going to the gym, tell me who’s showing up on Saturday.’ He’s that guy right now. That Conor McGregor is back.”
Dana White admits he would love to see Conor McGregor take on Khabib Nurmagomedov in a rematch this year.
The Notorious lost to the Russian over two years ago, but is reportedly in the best shape of his life ahead of his bout with Dustin Poirier later this month.
Nurmagomedov announced his retirement from MMA last year, but will be in attendance for the January 24 bout in Abu Dhabi.
White is set to meet the lightweight champion ahead of the bout and is eager to see him fight again.
He told ESPN: "As a promoter, you always want to see the best guys in the world, but at the same time, when a guy wants to retire, he probably should.
"The difference with a guy like Khabib is he's been through so much, and losing his dad was a major blow to him. Yet, his dad wanted him to hit 30-0.
"No matter what you think of Conor personally, Conor McGregor is not only one of the best in the world, but one of the best to ever do it."
White believes McGregor is as motivated as he has ever been ahead of his bout with Poirier.
