UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway has agreed to step in on short notice to replace an injured Tony Ferguson against Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC Lightweight Title at UFC 223.
Conor McGregor is the current UFC Lightweight Champion, but UFC President Dana White says the divisional ruler was never offered the short notice opportunity at UFC 223.
“I don’t think Conor McGregor could make the weight on six days’ notice. That’s a tough weight cut for him,” White said to ESPN. “And Conor is not the guy I want to throw in as a late replacement fighter. He’s a guy I want to make a fight with and have the right amount of time to promote the fight.”
If McGregor had accepted the chance to fight at UFC 223, it would’ve been his first Octagon appearance since UFC 205.
White does believe that McGregor could face the winner of the UFC 223 main event this fall.
”I think Conor could return in September, and it could be against one of these guys,” says White.
UFC 223 takes place on Saturday, April 7 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York with Max Holloway and Khabib Nurmagomedov headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
