Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports
Sorry Justin, but you’ve turned down too many fights!
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight champion, Conor McGregor, will be on standby in case of injury in the upcoming UFC 249 pay-per-view (PPV) main event, featuring Khabib Nurmagomedov (champion) and Tony Ferguson (challenger) in Brooklyn, New York.
Home to the infamous bus beatdown.
But that would require a victory over longtime lightweight veteran, Donald Cerrone, when “Notorious” makes his return to the Octagon at UFC 246 later this month in Las Vegas, a five-round headliner that could make or break the Irishman’s future.
“Conor wants to fight three times this year,” UFC President Dana White told ESPN (transcribed by Adam Martin). “He’s hoping that if he beats Cowboy, he can turn right around and fight Khabib, but that timing and math isn’t going to work out. But you know Conor. Conor thinks the way Conor thinks. His thing is, I’ll fight Cowboy, I’ll beat Cowboy, and I’ll be ready to fight Khabib at 155 if anything happens, because we’re going into Khabib-Tony again. So Conor would be ready for that fight.”
White has tried to book Khabib-Ferguson four times in the past and all four times, injury or illness has gotten in the way. Fortunately for fans, both Nurmagomedov and Ferguson have left him no choice. “The Eagle” is undefeated at 28-0, having recently bagged and tagged Dustin Poirier, while “El Cucuy” is the winner of 12 straight with nine violent finishes.
None of this matters unless McGregor is able to defeat Cerrone, who holds UFC records for both wins and finishes. In addition, a victory is expected to get “Notorious” the next title shot anyway, so there’s no reason for Irish fans to curse the Khabib-Ferguson main event.
For much more on UFC 246 click here.