Conor McGregor 'wants to fight twice' in 2017 according to Dana White

Dana White has claimed that Conor McGregor wants to compete twice this year amid plans for the Floyd Mayweather boxing fight hitting another roadblock.

With two of the biggest stars in the combat world looking to lock horns for most of the year, there were talks that the date for the highly anticipated fight will be in September.

However, Gennady Golovkin is set to face Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in a middleweight title contest on 16 September. This was another hurdle in the UFC president's attempts at getting the fight booked, with White claiming their date was taken away.

When asked if he had another target date for the fight, White laughed, revealing that he had no alternate target date.

"I don't have a target date for that now," White told ESPN. "That was the date we were shooting for provided we could get the deals done. We're not even that far along in the process so you know, I guess I don't need to worry about the date anymore."

White was also asked about McGregor's plans and whether the Irishman has any chance of fighting in the UFC in case his bout with "Money" never materialises, at least in 2017.

"Conor wants to fight," he added. "Conor wants to fight Floyd, Conor wants to fight twice this year, so we'll just have to see how this thing plays out."

If the 28-year-old does decide to feature in the octagon at least once this year, he would have no shortage of possible opponents.

There is always the lucrative option of facing Nate Diaz in a trilogy despite the Stockton native claiming he does not want to fight him anymore while McGregor could also defend his lightweight title against Tony Ferguson who has been lying in wait for an opportunity.