UFC President Dana White has responded to Conor McGregor's retirement statement by claiming that the 31-year-old rejected the chance to fight Tony Ferguson.
Justin Gaethje defeated Ferguson after he stepped in at UFC 249 after when Khabib Nurmagomedov - which paved the way for a clash between Gaethje and Khabib for the 155lbs title in September.
White has now sensationally claimed that The Notorious was offered the Ferguson fight himself and said no.
"Conor had the opportunity to slide into that spot if Khabib or Tony fell out," White told ESPN First Take.
"He came back and said, 'I'm not a replacement fight, I'm not gonna do it'.
"He would be in that position right now if he took the fight. He didn't. Gaethe did. So Gaethje gets it."
McGregor fired shots at UFC chiefs in an interview following his retirement announcement on Sunday.
The Dubliner felt that fight bosses should have gone with his plan for a return to action, questioned why Khabib v Gaethje was pushed back to September and admitted there are no potential opponents that excite him at the moment.
He said: "The game just does not excite me, and that’s that.
“All this waiting around. There’s nothing happening. I’m going through opponent options, and there’s nothing really there at the minute. There’s nothing that’s exciting me.
“They should have just kept the ball rolling. I mean, why are they pushing [Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje] back to September?
“You know what’s going to happen in September, something else is going to happen in September, and that’s not going to happen.
“I laid out a plan and a method that was the right move, the right methods to go with. And they always want to balk at that and not make it happen or just drag it on.
“Whatever I say, they want to go against it to show some kind of power.
“They should have just done the fight – me and Justin for the interim title – and just kept the ball rolling.
“I’m a bit bored of the game. I’m here watching the fight.
“I watched the last show – the Woodley-Burns show – I watched the show tonight. I’m just not excited about the game.
“I don’t know if it’s no crowd. I don’t know what it is. There’s just no buzz for me. I had my goals, my plans, the season. I had everything laid out.
“Obviously the world has gone bleeding bonkers at the minute. There’s f*** all happening at the minute.
“They want to throw me up and down weights and offer me stupid fights. I don’t really give a f***. I’m over it.”
McGregor took to social media to break the news of his third retirement following UFC 250 last weekend.
Fight fans now eagerly await the response of the former two-weight kingpin to White's claims.
