Dana White: Conor McGregor focused on Khabib Nurmagomedov rematch, not Jorge Masvidal

Conor McGregor appears to be dead set on running things back with Khabib Nurmagomedov.

UFC president Dana White said if McGregor beats Donald Cerrone on Saturday at UFC 246, he doesn’t think he’ll go after Jorge Masvidal, a name he’s expressed interest in before.

White said McGregor (21-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) wants a rematch with UFC lightweight champion Nurmagomedov (28-0 MMA, 12-0 UFC), who is slated to face Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 on April 18.

But McGregor doesn’t think the fifth time the fight has been booked will be the charm.

And if that’s the case, he hopes to step in and get his rematch with Nurmagomedov, who submitted him in the fourth round at UFC 229 in 2018. That was the most recent time McGregor fought.

“Here’s the thing: Realistically, Conor believes that Khabib vs. Tony Ferguson will not happen,” White told TMZ Sports. “We’ve tried to do this fight many, many times. Conor believes it won’t happen. Conor wanted to do this fight (with Cerrone) at 170 because he wants to turn right around and jump in and fight Khabib if that fight (with Ferguson) doesn’t happen. So again, we’ll see how this plays out. We’ll see what happens after this, and Conor is very focused on that rematch with Khabib.”

UFC 246 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.