Dana White Says Conor McGregor Will No Longer Get Next 155lb Shot

Dana White says Conor McGregor will no longer get the next shot at lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

The UFC President announced last night that Tony Ferguson will face Justin Gaethje for the interim 155lb title at UFC 249 on April 18. Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was originally scheduled to compete against Ferguson but was forced to withdraw from the fight last week due to travel issues.

Speaking to ESPN Dana White confirmed he plans to match the UFC 249 main event win against Nurmagomedov in a unification fight, meaning McGregor would have to wait or take another fight before getting a shot, he said.

“Everybody felt that if Conor was going to get a shot at Khabib that actually Gaethje should get it before Conor. 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.”

Previously White guaranteed McGregor would face Nurmagomedov in a highly anticipated rematch should the Russian have beaten ‘El Cucuy’ in the now canceled title clash. Unfortunately for McGregor, these latest developments will likely leave him out in the cold, at least for a while.

“This impacts everybody,” White said. “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.

“Conor really wants that rematch with Khabib. Well Khabib and Tony or Gaethje won’t fight now until probably September.”

“Nobody saw this coming,” White said. “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.”

Should Conor McGregor fight someone else while he waits for a title shot?