Conor McGregor Almost Fought Justin Gaethje At UFC 240

Former two division UFC champion Conor McGregor hasn’t been in action since a fourth round submission loss to UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in the main event of UFC 229.

A return to action could’ve happened last month at UFC 240 and that bout could’ve come against former WSOF Lightweight Champion Justin Gaethje.

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“I believe it was leaning towards Justin Gaethje at that time,” McGregor said to Ariel Helwani of ESPN (via Cole Shelton of BJPenn.com).

However, a broken hand suffered by McGregor would prevent that fight against Gaethje from ever happening. McGregor also revealed to Helwani that the potential bout against Gaethje at UFC 240 would’ve happened in Madison Square Garden in New York, but the card wound up happening at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is unknown if the potential McGregor versus Gaethje bout would've headlined the card, as non-title bouts rarely headline UFC pay-per-view cards. 

Gaethje has now moved onto a main event bout against Donald Cerrone at UFC Fight Night Vancouver, which is slated for Saturday, September 14. 

There has been no comment from either Gaethje or a UFC representative about a potential Gaethje vs. McGregor bout and/or UFC 240 happening at Madison Square Garden.