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What’s next for Conor McGregor? ‘I don’t know,’ says UFC President Dana White

Conor McGregor during a news conference on Feb. 24.

Conor McGregor during a news conference on Feb. 24.

(Christina House / For The Times)
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The fallout of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s decision to replace Conor McGregor’s canceled UFC 200 main event with the Jon Jones-Daniel Cormier light-heavyweight title rematch is uncertainty for McGregor.

UFC President Dana White earlier Wednesday told ESPN.com that McGregor will either have to defend his featherweight title next against the winner of the UFC 200 interim featherweight title fight between former champion Jose Aldo and ex-lightweight champion Frankie Edgar or lose his belt.

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But White hedged from that position later in the day, telling the Los Angeles Times in text messages that, “I don’t know how this will all play out. We will see.”

McGregor was supposed to fight Stockton’s former lightweight title challenger Nate Diaz in the main event of UFC 200, a rematch of their March 5 UFC 196 main event.

In that fight, Diaz took advantage of McGregor’s bold decision to fight at the welterweight limit of 170 pounds. Not only did McGregor get rocked by the heavier man’s second-round punches, he badly fatigued carrying the extra weight and fell to a rear-naked choehold submission later in the round.

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McGregor declined the UFC’s order to attend a Friday UFC 200 news conference in Las Vegas, which was to include some marketing filming, saying he needed to focus entirely on his training after disrupting his workout schedule while promoting UFC 196 and paying the price.

White then pulled McGregor from UFC 200, and at the Friday news conference, Diaz said he didn’t want to fight anyone other than McGregor.

What becomes of Diaz if McGregor is forced back to featherweight?

“I don’t know,” White said in his text messages. “Frankie or Jose could come out of their fight banged up. We will see how it all plays out.”

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On Monday, White told TMZ Sports that McGregor could participate in UFC 201, 202 or 203.

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