Conor McGregor ’s head coach, John Kavanagh, has ended all speculation before it could really get started: The former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion won’t fight at UFC 249. After Khabib Nurmagomedov announced he was not going to compete in the April 18 lightweight title headliner with Tony Ferguson due to a lack of location stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, the scramble to save the event has proceeded. McGregor (22-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC), who was one of the earliest predictors Nurmagomedov (28-0 MMA, 12-0 UFC) vs. Ferguson (25-3 MMA, 15-1 UFC) would fall apart for a fifth time (albeit not under these circumstances), teased on social media that he was in “fight shape,” which naturally generated some excitement. If the UFC had a venue secured, or the coronavirus outbreak hadn’t thrown the entire sports world into disarray, then perhaps “The Notorious” would be slotted in.
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