Conor McGregor claims that he's in fighting shape right now, but is glad he hasn't got one, teasing a potential last-minute mega-fight against Tony Ferguson.
UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has pulled out of his scheduled bout with Ferguson on April 18 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
And with the Russian out of the picture, Ferguson suggested that he'd be open to fighting McGregor - leading to speculation that the pair could face off.
But McGregor claims that it was only a matter of time before one of the fighters pulled out, congratulating Ferguson on not cancelling the bout.
In a tweet, McGregor said: "I am in shape to fight right now! At the beginning of all this, I said to myself - I’m happy I don’t have an official fight booked.
"If I did, I would have consumed all the incorrect data to support me taking part in the bout, and I would have followed through, competed. And won.
"The fact of this matter is, both Tony and Khabib where engaged in a game of chicken here towards the fight bell. With Khabib chickening out first. Making it 3-2 in pullouts in Tony’s favour.
"Khabib scurried out of the U.S to home, and amid the crisis. Very high risk. Congrats Tony."
Explaining his decision, Nurmagomedov said: "Staying home in quarantine and reading the reaction of people to the situation around my fight, it turns out that the whole world should be in quarantine.
"Governments of all countries, famous people around the world urge people to follow all safety requirements in order to limit the spread of the disease, to save people, and Khabib is the only one relieved of all obligations and must demonstrate free will and train flying around the world, for the sake of fight?
"I understand everything and I'm definitely upset more than you to cancel the fight, probably like all others, I had many plans after the fight, but I can't control it all.
"The greatest countries and the largest companies of our time are shocked by what is happening, every day the situation changes unpredictably. But Khabib still has to fight, is that what you saying? Take care of yourself and put yourself in my shoes."
Ferguson has called for Nurmagomedov to be stripped of his title, claiming the Russian is "running scared".
He told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani : “He was in Abu Dhabi, he had his chance to be able to come back before the borders were closed in Russia. Decided to go back to Dagestan, did not finish his camp.
“The guy does not want to fight. He’s scared, he’s running. He should be stripped of his title.”
Ferguson added: “Bro, you have an obligation. You signed on the dotted line to represent your country. He ran. He did everything he could to avoid that ass-whooping.
“Nobody deserves that ass-whooping besides two people, ‘McNuggets’ and ‘Team Tiramisu’ – that’s Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov."
While Ferguson is interested in a fight with McGregor, he doesn't want to take on Justin Gaethje.
He said: “The dude’s [Gaethje] got a 4 and 2 record [in the UFC]. When all these things happened, when they stripped me of my belt – remember when I said it’s like a round-robin tournament?
“I had to fight everybody. I fought everybody that was in the top five. I knocked them all out or finished them in great fashion, and here we go, we’re back in the same spot. It’s like the UFC is trying to play keep away with me.”
