Ultimate Fighting Championship suffered a major blow when it was confirmed that Khabib Nurmagomedov would be forced out of “UFC 209”. The Russian fighter was scheduled to fight Tony Ferguson over the right to become the UFC Interim Lightweight Champion, but an illness due to weight cut issues forced the fighter out of the co-main event spot.
UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor was expected to square off with either Ferguson or Nurmagomedov upon his return to the octagon, but the status of the interim championship is still up in the air. McGregor was asked about the possibility of fighting Nurmagomedov weeks ago at the “UFC 205” post-fight press conference, and he simply dismissed it by saying Nurmagomedov does not fight as often as he should and made a comment about his issues with pulling out of fights:
“He’s fought once in eight years. He ain’t fight too frequent for my liking. For me to commit to something like that, I need to see solid proof that people are gonna show up and he’s a consistent pull-out merchant. He had a good performance tonight. Fair play to him.”
“I need to see active. I need to see activity. I need to see consistency. I need to see me. If you want me to come and change your life, if you want me to come pick you, you better have some damn reasons for me to do that.”
Do you think McGregor will ever accept an offer to fight Khabib again? Share your thoughts and make your predictions for Conor’s return opponent in the comment section below!
