Conor McGregor faced Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 (Image credit: Getty)
ESPN MMA reporter Ariel Helwani had his say about Conor McGregor trying to distract Khabib Nurmagomedov from his fight against Tony Ferguson.
McGregor and Khabib have been fighting a Twitter battle in recent days. This came after his UFC 249 press conference where he shared some harsh words to Ferguson.
Helwani was asked if Khabib was distracted from the fight, and the MMA reporter didn’t get one more link about the Russian’s next fight:
“I don’t get that question at all. From the press conferences he seems very focussed on Tony Ferguson.
“I think other people are trying to bring Conor in, and of course, Conor is poking the bear.
“The only one who continues to talk about the Conor McGregor vs Khabib fight is UFC president Dana White.”
White had said that McGregor would get a shot at Khabib if he beat Donald Cerrone. The Irishman did, but Helwani wanted to bring in the Ferguson factor.
“I think the entire MMA community cannot wait for April 18. Everyone wants to see that fight. They booked it four times before, this would be the fifth time.”
Helwani went on to claim that people don’t want to see Conor in action against Khabib, and talk of that was disrespectful to Ferguson.
“I don’t think people are clamouring right now to see Conor vs Khabib, yet. I think if Conor beats Justin Gaethje and Khabib beats Tony Ferguson, then we can talk about it.
“Until then, I don’t understand why we keep talking about it. It’s disrespectful to Mr. Ferguson.”
Helwani did speak about the possibility of this fight being cancelled or postponed due to the coronavirus.
However, Dana White recently came out and said all UFC fights were to go ahead. Some would be shifted to the UFC Apex arena while the fans would not be allowed inside the arena.
That would be a blow for those looking forward to UFC 249. However, all the fights would be broadcast on various channels.
White also confirmed that fans would be handed a full refund for all tickets bought so far. The UFC president added that he didn’t want to do this, but this was the best move to ensure the safety of all.
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