Conor McGregor could’ve made UFC return NEXT month but ‘wasn’t ready’ - shock claim
CONOR MCGREGOR’s eagerly-anticipated return to the Octagon could’ve taken place next month, Donald Cerrone has claimed.
A showdown between Conor McGregor and Cerrone has seemingly been in the pipeline ever since the latter dispatched of surging prospect Alexander Hernandez in January.
Much to the delight of their respective set of fans, McGregor accepted Cerrone’s callout.
Their proposed clash has yet to materialise, though, and has left many wondering if the contest will indeed happen.
According to Cerrone, McGregor has been offered the fight but turned it down as the UFC brass want it to serve as a co-main event on one of their pay-per-view cards.
And the fan-favourite has claimed UFC 236 - which takes places in Atlanta on April 13 - was the card the promotion had hoped his encounter with ‘The Notorious’ would take place on.
"We were all waiting on Conor for April, and he said he wasn't ready," Cerrone told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.
"I don't know how in one breath you can say, 'I'll fight anyone, anytime, anywhere,' and the next one say, 'I'm not ready for that one.’”
McGregor, 30, hasn’t fought since losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 last September.
We were all waiting on Conor for April, and he said he wasn't ready
The Irishman is hellbent on having a second crack at the undefeated Russian, which he hopes to secure after clearing out the lightweight division.
“For some reason though, I went into camp and focused solely on defense,” McGregor wrote in a recent Instagram post reflecting on his loss to Nurmagomedov.
“I trained to disengage. To Anti grapple. To Avoid.
“I disrespected my own attacking game and became a stranger to it. I allowed outside influence filter into my own thinking.
“I can pull a dead horse out of a ditch if I latch around its head why would I not snatch up the neck?
"Why would I disengage? Why would I avoid anything? I don’t know what I was thinking back then.
"But I am thinking clear now. I will not make that mistake again.
“I am going to literally tear these men apart now.
"Watch me. One by f*****g one.”
McGregor is currently serving a six-month suspension for his part in the brawl which followed his UFC 229 defeat to Nurmagomedov, his successor at the summit of the 155lbs division.
His suspension began on October 6, which means he’s free to return to the Octagon from April 6 onwards.
Nurmagomedov, meanwhile, received a ninth-month suspension for igniting the brawl and will be eligible to fight from July 6 online.