Conor McGregor opted against stepping up at UFC 249 and fighting for the interim lightweight title, according to UFC president Dana White.
When Khabib Nurmagomedov fell out of his April 18 fight against Tony Ferguson due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions, McGregor could've been the one to fill in, White said. Instead, Justin Gaethje took the fight against Ferguson - which was later delayed until May 9 - and won via fifth-round TKO to earn a shot at Nurmagomedov.
"(McGregor) came back and said, 'I'm not a replacement fighter, I'm not going to do it,'" White said Tuesday during an appearance on ESPN's "First Take," according to MMA Fighting's Damon Martin. "He would be in that position now (to fight for the belt) if he took the fight. He didn't. Gaethje did, so Gaethje gets it."
McGregor tweeted that he was retiring this past weekend, later citing a lack of excitement about the sport. The former two-division champion said he wanted to face Gaethje for the interim belt but the UFC chose to stick to its original plan of Nurmagomedov-Gaethje later in 2020.
White recently said McGregor, who returned to the cage in January and beat Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds, should wait to fight the winner of that title unification bout.
"This is just a matter of Conor being frustrated, I think, in that he can't get what he wants right now," White said Tuesday. "It's just not possible."
