THERE’S FRESH UNCERTAINTY over the make-up of the card for the UFC’s first show in New York City, which is just over seven weeks away.
UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden on 12 November had been expected to be headlined by a lightweight title bout between Conor McGregor and defending champion Eddie Alvarez.
However, the situation has changed drastically in the last 48 hours or so. On last night’s edition of the UFC Tonight programme on FOX Sports in the US, it was reported that McGregor is “unlikely” to be on the New York card, and that the reigning UFC featherweight champion is carrying an injury.
That information was attributed to UFC president Dana White, but it has been refuted by sources close to McGregor’s camp, who say the Dubliner is “training away” and “ready to go” for the historic event.
McGregor sustained severe bruising to his shin in his victory over Nate Diaz last month at UFC 202, which left him requiring crutches and a visit to the hospital. But the 28-year-old, who returned home to Dublin last week for the first time since the Las Vegas win, made a swift recovery and is showing no ill effects from the gruelling bout.
McGregor, the reigning featherweight champion, is keen to fight Alvarez as he bids to become the first fighter ever to hold two UFC belts at the same time. Alvarez is also eager to secure a lucrative clash with the Irish superstar — as evidenced by his Twitter call-out of McGregor on Tuesday night.
But the UFC seem to have other plans for their lightweight champion. According to UFC Tonight, Alvarez was issued with a bout agreement to make his inaugural title defence against number one contender Khabib Nurmagomedov.
However, after he missed the deadline to sign it, a meeting of Alvarez and Nurmagomedov is now in the works for UFC 206 in Toronto on 10 December instead.
That leaves a vacancy at the top of the New York card, and while Tyron Woodley announced last week that he’d be defending his welterweight belt against Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson at MSG, the UFC would have been planning to schedule a much more high-profile headliner for their debut at such an iconic venue.
A press conference has now been scheduled for Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, with the UFC claiming that ‘the stars of UFC 205′ will be in attendance. Whether Conor McGregor will be one of them remains to be seen, but it would appear that there’s plenty more to come from this situation yet.
