Former lightweight champion Conor McGregor could return as a replacement for the UFC 242 headliner if needed, according to Dana White.
Speaking at the UFC 240 post-event news conference, the UFC president revealed he had recently spoken to McGregor, who has not fought since his fourth-round submission loss to Nurmagomedov last October at UFC 229. White said McGregor is keeping an eye on the upcoming title fight between lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and interim titleholder Dustin Poirier, who are slated to meet on September 7 at UFC 242 for a unification bout.
White even indicated that McGregor could step in as a replacement should anything happen to prevent either Nurmagomedov or Poirier from competing.
“I talked to him last week,” White said.
“He wants to come back, so I mean really what he’s doing is looking to see how everything plays out in September. I was just thinking out there, as of right now, Khabib and Poirier are fighting, (but) you know how this business works. Anything can happen and usually does, so I think he’s just sort of waiting to see how it all plays out and does he have an opportunity somewhere to jump in and make something happen.”
McGregor is currently ranked as the No. 3 lightweight, behind Nurmagomedov, Poirier, and Tony Ferguson. While fans would no doubt like to see McGregor return to the Octagon, most fans would probably agree that it's Tony Ferguson who deserves the next title shot. Ferguson is not only ranked ahead of McGregor, but he is
coming off an impressive win over Donald Cerrone at UFC 238.