Dana White admits that the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s latest move to save the UFC 249 fight card will impact Conor McGregor’s future.
On Monday, the Nevada-based promotion officially announced that Justin Gaethje will replace Khabib Nurmagomedov in the main event of UFC 249 pay-per-view event on April 18 opposite number one contender, Tony Ferguson.
With the interim championship on the line, the eventual winner will have the chance to unify the lightweight titles with Nurmagomedov later this year.
The UFC president confirmed this is the next fight to make for Khabib when he returns to the Octagon after Ramadan, sparking speculations that the Nurmagomedov vs McGregor rematch might not happen this year.
The Irishman has previously said he wants another shot at the 155-pound title, following his fourth-round submission loss to the Dagestani in October of 2018.
Last January, the UFC’s biggest draw made a sensational return from a 15-month hiatus and inched closer to a crack at a UFC gold after a 40-second finish of Donald Cerrone.
Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje official for UFC 249; location remains unknown https://t.co/qxWXNOiFcG
— MMA Junkie (@MMAjunkie) April 7, 2020
Ripple Effect
Following the knockout win, White said the UFC is looking to book McGregor against Nurmagomedov for his next fight.
However, the recent adjustments made by White to save the UFC 249 fight card is set to have a ripple effect for the top fighters at 155 pounds.
“Everybody felt that if Conor was going to get a shot at Khabib that actually Gaethje should get it before Conor,” White told ESPN (transcript from MMA Fighting).
“I mean it couldn’t have worked out any better.”
“You get Gaethje vs. Tony. It’s the fight that makes sense. It’s two of the top guys in the world. Khabib is out so the winner will face Khabib.”
“This impacts everybody.”
“There’s three fights that have already been postponed, we’re going to work out over the next several weeks and I don’t know where this puts anybody.”
Dana White reveals how new plan for UFC 249 will impact Conor McGregor’s future https://t.co/tOkNGg4NBR via @MMAFighting
— MMA Alley (@MMAAlley) April 7, 2020
Figure Out
With the uncertainties surrounding McGregor’s future, the UFC president said he will figure things out to come up with a plan for the Irishman’s journey back to title contention.
“Conor really wants that rematch with Khabib. Well Khabib and Tony or Gaethje won’t fight now until probably September.”
“Nobody saw this coming.”
“This is one of those things you can’t predict or see coming. It happened but we’re rolling with it and we’re going to get it figured out.”
McGregor remains the biggest draw in the UFC after helping ESPN+ gained more than 1 million subscribers, when he fought ‘Cowboy’ at UFC 246.
On top of that, he also holds the top three highest pay-per-view records in the UFC history.
Who do you think should Conor McGregor fight next?
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(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Conor McGregor and YouTube/ The Mac Life)