Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov were lined up to face off as coaches in the UFC's The Ultimate Fighter, the Russian's manager Ali Abdelaziz claims.
In what would be must-watch TV, it was proposed that the bitter rivals would star in the series - with the end goal to see the pair go toe-to-toe in a rematch of their 2018 clash.
The Eagle submitted The Notorious in the heated clash, with an ugly post-fight brawl making UFC 229 one of the most controversial shows in the company's history.
And nearly two years later, the pair's bad blood shows no signs of disappearing as they regularly come to blows on social media.
But with Khabib set to defend his lightweight crown next month against Justin Gaethje and McGregor 'retired', Dana White was lining up a potential box-office move for The Ultimate Fighter.
“Last week, Dana White called me and said ‘Ali what do you think about if Khabib wins, him and Conor will do The Ultimate Fighter on ESPN?'” Abdelaziz told TMZ.
“Khabib turned it down."
It appears that, in Khabib's eyes, McGregor has not done enough to prove to his rival that he deserves another shot at the title.
It also remains unclear whether McGregor and White's public spat last week could also impact future plans for the Dubliner.
McGregor took to Twitter to explain to fans what his planned 'season' had entailed - a plan which involved him fighting in May and August before a title fight later this year.
But frustrated by a lack of interesting opponents and anger at the UFC's plans for him, McGregor leaked private messages from White last week leading to the public spat.
However, with a potential exhibition fight with Dustin Poirier later this year and a Manny Pacquiao boxing fight next year in the works, it remains to be seen whether McGregor could yet be tempted out of his UFC retirement.
