Tony Ferguson was forced to withdraw from Saturday’s scheduled UFC 223 fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov because of a freak accident this past weekend in which the interim lightweight champion tore a ligament in his knee.
UFC president Dana White found an impressive replacement in featherweight champion Max Holloway, who’s riding a 12-fight winning streak, but gave no consideration to asking Conor McGregor to step in.
“I don’t think Conor McGregor could make the weight on six days’ notice. That’s a tough weight cut for him,” White explained Sunday to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto. “Conor isn’t exactly the guy that I want to throw in as a late replacement fighter. He’s the guy that I want to make a fight with, have the right amount of time to promote the fight, have the fight in the right place, so I’m not interested in asking Conor to take the fight.”
Saturday’s new main event fight between Nurmagomedov and Holloway will be for the UFC lightweight championship, according to White. That means Ferguson will be stripped of his interim title, while McGregor will vacate the undisputed lightweight title he won from Eddie Alvarez in his most recent mixed martial arts fight at UFC 205 in November 2016. Holloway is aiming to become a two-division champion.
It’s not surprising White didn’t ask McGregor to replace Ferguson given The Notorious’ status as the most popular fighter in UFC. But it’s fair to wonder whether McGregor will fight the winner of Saturday’s showdown.
In fact, Holloway’s last loss came against McGregor at UFC Fight Night in August 2013, while Nurmagomedov, who owns a perfect 25-0 record in MMA, has been discussed as a potential opponent in the past.
“I think that Conor could return in September and it could be against one of these guys,” White said.
There’s been a lot of talk about McGregor’s next opponent, with Georges St-Pierre, Nate Diaz and even Floyd Mayweather Jr. being floated as possibilities in addition to Ferguson, Nurmagomedov and Holloway. All we know is McGregor, who also vacated the UFC featherweight championship before fighting Mayweather in a boxing match last August, won’t be on this Saturday’s UFC 223 card.
