UFC President Dana White has ruled out a potential Conor McGregor-Khabib Nurmagomedov Lightweight title fight taking place in Russia.
White has repeatedly said that the UFC will look to go to Russia for an event, however, the UFC chief said that Nurmagomedov will not fight McGregor there if the Dubliner returns to the promotion.
“If you do a fight that big, you’ve got do it in Vegas,” White told TMZ. “Khabib will fight in Russia at some point, but it wont be that fight. It’s too big. You’ve got to do it in Vegas.”
Nurmagomedov succeeded McGregor as Lightweight champion when he defeated Al Iaquinta at UFC 223 earlier this month.
McGregor had been stripped of both his Featherweight and Lightweight straps for extended inactivity but his pending return to the Octagon may now be delayed for some time after he was charged with assault and criminal mischief by the NYPD for his part in an attack on a bus with UFC fighters at a UFC 223 media day.
White has been reluctant to impose any sort of sanction against McGregor following the incident with the UFC happy to let his case play out in court before deciding if the organisation will take any action against their former champion.
