Conor McGregor reveals he was offered Khabib Nurmagomedov rematch before Ferguson deal
Conor McGregor says he was closer to getting his rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov then some realize.
Ever since the Irishman lost to Nurmagomedov by fourth-round submission at UFC 229 he has been clamoring for a rematch. Yet, the undefeated Dagestani champion was not a fan of that. He said McGregor needed to get 10 wins before he would accept a rematch.
But, Conor McGregor recently revealed he was offered the bout for April at UFC 249 before the Tony Ferguson fight was made.
“As soon as it’s there. Maybe in Brooklyn, when is that April? It could very well happen. It was offered to me, it was offered when they couldn’t come to a deal with Tony,” Conor McGregor said to BT Sport (via BJPENN.com). “I took it straight away. It was scheduled, or rumored, or something, and there was obviously something going on behind closed doors and Dana hit me up and offered it to me and I accepted it of course. It’s going to happen, it’ll happen.”
Instead of the fight happening, Conor McGregor will now fight Donald Cerrone on Saturday at UFC 246. Nurmagomedov, meanwhile, will battle Tony Ferguson in April at UFC 249.
Although McGregor lost the bout against the Dagestani champion, he says part of the reason was his mental state which was not good.
“A different kind of mental was there most certainly. It was just a wild couple of months around that whole bout. The whole incidents that happened, it just is what it is. We’ll get it again.”
There is no question the rematch is a big money fight and it appears it will happen if Conor McGregor can get his hand raised against Donald Cerrone. Should that happen, and Nurmagomedov beats Ferguson, Dana White made it clear that is when he will make the rematch.
Whether or not the rematch would have a different result is to be seen.
