UFC president Dana White has ruled out the possibility of Kamaru Usman defending his welterweight title against former dual weight champion Conor McGregor. Welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal appears to have passed up on a shot at Usman and is instead chasing a rematch with Nate Diaz.
MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz offered McGregor the chance to become a three-weight champion in a fight with his client Usman. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ has since defended a potential match-up with ‘Notorious’ but also said he doubts the Irishman will take the fight.
“We are about making history here. He’s saying he’s the pound-for-pound greatest of all-time across three divisions, this is your chance to prove it, go out there and win a third belt in a third division, so why wouldn’t we make that fight? I’m going to give him the opportunity, if Conor wants it, let’s do it. But, Conor’s quiet now. Why is Conor quiet? Who says no to a title shot? I’ve never seen this in history,” he continued. “Who says no when the champ says come and get your title shot? Unless you know you have no chance in hell of winning, that this might change the landscape of your fighting career ever. That’s the only chance I can see people saying, you know what, I’m going to pass on that title shot right now.” (Transcribed by BJPenn.com)
UFC boss White has now ruled out any prospect of that fight happening during a recent interview with Sportscenter, he said.
“The next title fight for Usman is going to be one of these guys. It’s going to be Colby (Covington), (Jorge) Masvidal, (Leon) Edwards, it’s going to be one of those guys. It’s not going to be Conor McGregor.”
Who do you want to see welterweight champion Kamaru Usman face next?