Conor McGregor will not be replacing Khabib Nurmagomedov at the UFC 249 main event, says his long-time coach John Kavanagh.
McGregor’s name loomed as a potential opponent for Tony Ferguson after the defending lightweight champion announced he’s out of the title bout dubbed as the ‘most anticipated UFC fight in history.’
In fact, last January, following Conor’s 40-second knockout of Donald Cerrone at UFC 246, Dana White said the Irish star is on standby to fight either Khabib or Ferguson if one of them pulls out.
With Khabib stranded in Russia due to the coronavirus pandemic, the dream lightweight matchup was shelved once again but the Nevada-based promotion is determined to put on the April 18 pay-per-view event.
In a cryptic tweet last week, ‘The Notorious’ revealed he is ‘ready to fight right now’ but did not exactly say he wants to fight Ferguson on short-notice.
No Chance
In an interview with ESPN MMA, McGregor’s coach, John Kavanagh, said there is no chance the Irish star will fight ‘El Cucuy’ at UFC 249 as his home country, Ireland, is also in lockdown.
“He always wants to step in,” Kavanagh said (transcript from MMA Fighting).
“You know that’s his thing. I’m sure Dana [White] was getting harassed; we were all getting harassed – that’s not going to change any time.”
“We had a bit of fun on April Fool’s with that, but there’s no chance of that.”
“Ireland is on a pretty strict lockdown and me and Conor have no physical interaction.”
“There’s no physical interaction at the gym – the gym is shutdown – so to try and rush that together, I just don’t think it would be smart because he certainly isn’t fighting so that he has food for the next six months, that’s not where he is in his life.”
‘Right Up There’
The Straight Blast Gym coach then revealed that Justin Gathje could be next for the former two-division champion.
“That was certainly…every time there is a, “There’s going to be a fight in three months’ time,’ I think you would be shocked by some of the names that come across the table.”
“I just kinda go at this stage, ‘Yeah, okay…you’re kickboxing who?’…at this stage there’s just so many things that come across the table.”
“I just say, ‘Look, guys, that’s your world.’ Audie, Paradigm and Conor are so good at that, at planning, strategy and negotiating, that I just say, ‘Yeah, give me a date when it comes.’”
“For me, I’m just focused that are booked, that are coming up. Obviously, Pedro was the big one for the gym there recently that didn’t go ahead.”
“He had a world title shot coming up, so my concern was with that – fights that I know are coming.”
“But yeah, [the Justin Gaethje fight in July] was one of the ones that was being talked about – that was right up there.”
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Conor McGregor and YouTube/ The Mac Life)