John Kavanagh on Conor McGregor vs. Tony Ferguson at UFC 249: “no chance of that.”

SBG Ireland head coach John Kavanagh has cleared up the rumours about his star fighter Conor McGregor facing Tony Ferguson at UFC 249.

Tony Ferguson was initially scheduled to face UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in the main event at UFC 249 on April 18. The bout appears to have fallen through after Nurmagomedov “unofficially” withdrew from the fight on his Instagram.

Fans want to know whether Ferguson will still fight on the card against a replacement opponent. Some potential opponents for him have been named, including Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor.

In fact, John Kavanagh recently hinted that Conor McGregor might step in and face Ferguson in the main event at UFC 249.

The rumours were intensified after Tony Ferguson stated that he would only be willing to fight 1 of 2 opponents at UFC 249 – Khabib Nurmagomedov or Conor McGregor.

Now, Kavanagh has went back on suggesting that McGregor might step in against Ferguson, stating that it was only an “April Fools” joke. He talked about it in a recent interview with ESPN MMA, stating that there is “no chance of that” happening:

“He always wants to step in. We had a bit of fun on April Fools on that, but no chance of that. Ireland is on a pretty strict lockdown [due to COVID-19]. Me and Conor have no physical interactions. There’s no physical interaction at the gym. Gyms are shut down,” Kavanagh said.

“To try and rush that together I don’t think would be smart. He certainly isn’t fighting so he has food for the next six months. That’s not where he is in his life. In terms of fun, in terms of fighting and in terms of competition he has all sorts of ideas.”

With McGregor not stepping in against Ferguson, it appears that “El Cucuy” might be removed from the card entirely. As mentioned previously, Ferguson has stated that he is only interested in facing 1 of 2 opponents – Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor.

Since both of them are unable to compete, Ferguson might be forced to sit out until his fight against Nurmagomedov can be rescheduled.

UFC heavyweight contender Jairzinho Rozenstruik recently suggested that he would face Francis Ngannou for the interim UFC heavyweight title in the main event at UFC 249.

This article first appeared on CLOSEDGUARDMEDIA.com on 4th April, 2020.