KEY POINTS

  • Khabib defeated McGregor in October
  • McGregor, who did not fight since the loss, is set to make his comeback on Jan 18
  • Khabib's original fight is against Ferguson in April

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White reportedly has revealed that Conor McGregor wants to be on standby to face Khabib Nurmagomedov if his fight against Tony Ferguson gets canceled for the fifth time.

The former interim UFC Lightweight Champion, Ferguson is set to face the reigning champion Khabib at UFC 249 in April at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. However, there are rumors that the injury and weight cut issues, which have scrapped the fight already on four occasions since 2015, could once again cause hindrances.

McGregor, who is returning to the UFC on Jan. 18, has time and again expressed his wish to have a repeat of the October fixture, which he had lost to Khabib. The former featherweight and lightweight champion will face Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone at welterweight. The Irishman has insisted that not having to cut weight this month could make things easier for him if a break happens where he could get a rematch against Khabib.

Khabib Nurmagomedov Conor McGregor
Khabib Nurmagomedov of Russia holds down Conor McGregor of Ireland in their UFC lightweight championship bout during the UFC 229 event inside T-Mobile Arena on October 6, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Harry How/Getty Images)

“The fight is at 170 pounds because Conor wants to fight three times this year, and he’s hoping if he beats Cowboy he can turn right around and fight Khabib,” UFC president White told ESPN.

“But that timing and math are not going to work out. But you know Conor, Conor thinks the way Conor thinks, so his thing is, ‘I’ll fight Cowboy, I’ll beat Cowboy and I’ll be ready to fight Khabib at 155 if anything happens’. Because we’re going into Khabib-Tony again, you know what I mean, so in Conor’s mind, Conor would be ready for that fight,” White added.

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