Conor McGregor’s head coach John Kavanagh says there is “no chance” his fighter competes at UFC 249 on April 18.
The event was supposed to be headlined by lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson. Earlier this week Nurmagomedov was forced to withdraw from the bout due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis and subsequent travel restrictions in his home country of Russia.
Since his withdrawal, a host of 155lb fighters have offered to step in and save the card. McGregor himself took to Twitter and seemingly hinted he may be up for it, he said.
“I am in shape to fight right now! At the beginning of all this, I said to myself – I’m happy I don’t have an official fight booked. If I did, I would have consumed all the incorrect data to support me taking part in the bout, and I would have followed through, competed. And won.”
Unfortunately for fight fans, Kavanagh has now ended any hopes of McGregor fighting at UFC 249. Speaking to ESPN the SBG Ireland head coach explained the country is in lockdown and his fighter is literally unable to train for a fight, he said
“No chance of that. Ireland is on a pretty strict lockdown (due to coronavirus). Me and Conor have no physical interactions. There’s no physical interaction at the gym. Gyms are shut down.”
“To try and rush that together, I just don’t think it would be smart,” Kavanagh said. “He certainly isn’t fighting so that he has food for the next six months. That’s not where he is in his life.”
The renowned coach also revealed to ESPN that the original plan for McGregor was to fight fellow lightweight contender Justin Gaethje in July, however those plans have now understandably fallen through.
“(Gaethje) was certainly one of the ones that was being talked about,” Kavanagh said. “That was right up there.” (Transcribed by MMAJunkie)