{"id":688817,"date":"2026-05-23T15:49:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T15:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/688817\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T15:49:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T15:49:10","slug":"dana-white-hails-conor-mcgregor-as-muhammad-ali-of-mma-ahead-of-the-icons-ufc-comeback-after-5-years-compares-jon-jones-with-michael-jordan-international-sports-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/688817\/","title":{"rendered":"Dana White hails Conor McGregor as \u201cMuhammad Ali of MMA\u201d ahead of the icon\u2019s UFC comeback after 5 years, compares Jon Jones with Michael Jordan | International Sports News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DanaDana White said that her prefers Conor McGregor over Jon Jones to headline UFC event at the White House (Image via: Getty) Dana White has never been afraid to make bold statements. The UFC president once again grabbed attention after comparing two of MMA\u2019s biggest stars to legends from other sports. White said Conor McGregor<\/a> is similar to Muhammad Ali<\/a> because of his worldwide fame and ability to attract fans. He also described Jon Jones as the Michael Jordan<\/a> of MMA because of his dominance inside the cage.The comments quickly created debate among fans. However, White believes both fighters changed the sport in different ways. McGregor helped bring MMA into mainstream culture with his personality and knockout power. Jones, meanwhile, built a legacy through long-term success and championships across weight classes. White\u2019s comments came as excitement continues to build around McGregor\u2019s expected return and Jones\u2019 place among the greatest fighters in UFC history.<\/p>\n

Dana White praises Conor McGregor\u2019s fame and Jon Jones\u2019 dominance<\/p>\n

Dana White explained that Conor McGregor became one of the biggest stars combat sports has ever seen. According to him, the Irish fighter had the same kind of impact on MMA that Ali had on boxing. White pointed to McGregor\u2019s ability to sell fights, create headlines, and bring new viewers to the sport. Even people who did not follow MMA knew who McGregor was during the peak of his career.White also spoke highly of Jon Jones and his long unbeaten run in the UFC. He said Jones represents greatness in MMA the same way Michael Jordan represented greatness in basketball. White noted that Jones has spent many years at the top level while defeating every major opponent placed in front of him. He also highlighted Jones\u2019 success in multiple weight divisions and his ability to continue winning deep into his career.The UFC boss suggested that both fighters changed MMA in their own way. McGregor brought unmatched popularity and entertainment value, while Jones built one of the strongest competitive records in the history of the sport.Attention is now turning toward McGregor\u2019s next challenge. The former two-division champion will face Max Holloway at UFC 329. Their first fight happened in 2013 when McGregor defeated a young Holloway by decision. Since then, Holloway has developed into one of the most respected fighters in the UFC and a former featherweight champion.Unlike their first meeting, this fight is expected to be far more competitive. Holloway now enters the matchup with years of experience and championship success behind him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dana White said that her prefers Conor McGregor over Jon Jones to headline UFC event at the White…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":688818,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,639,3002,252012,252013,641,252011,3004,638,252015,1605,82,252014,252016],"class_list":["post-688817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-conor-mcgregor","tag-conor-mcgregor-comeback","tag-conor-mcgregor-vs-max-holloway","tag-dana-white-mma-comparisons","tag-fighting","tag-mcgregor-ali-of-mma","tag-michael-jordan","tag-mma","tag-mma-mainstream-culture","tag-muhammad-ali","tag-sports","tag-ufc-329-max-holloway","tag-ufc-president-dana-white"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=688817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/688818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=688817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=688817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=688817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}