Conor McGregor really was ready to save the day at UFC 222.
Prior to Saturday night’s event, McGregor revealed that he actually offered to face Frankie Edgar on short notice after featherweight champion Max Holloway suffered an ankle injury that prevented him from competing.
McGregor said he called to ask for the fight with Edgar on short notice but the UFC ultimately decided that with only a few weeks to go until the event that there wasn’t enough time to promote his return to action.
While McGregor’s claim was met with a healthy dose of skepticism considering he’s hasn’t fought in the UFC in almost a year and a half, it turns out the Irishman really did try to land the fight with Edgar on short notice.
“It’s true. He did say ‘I’ll take that fight with Frankie Edgar’ but he’s not in that weight division and we had already made the fight [with Brian Ortega],” ~ Dana White
UFC president Dana White backed up McGregor’s claims but says that the offer came in after the promotion had already secured Brian Ortega as a replacement and that was the fight that ended up taking place at UFC 222.
“It’s true. He did say ‘I’ll take that fight with Frankie Edgar’ but he’s not in that weight division and we had already made the fight [with Brian Ortega],” White revealed. “The fight was already made between Ortega and Frankie when Conor said ‘I’ll take that fight’. When he said he would take it, there was something like 24 days until the fight.
“Nothing about it made sense.”
Ortega ended up knocking out Edgar in the first round in a stunning result while McGregor remains on the sidelines as the world anxiously awaits his return to action in 2018.
Will Conor McGregor actually return in 2018? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
