It looks like deja vu for the Notorious.
The UFC featherweight champion is suddenly without an opponent for UFC 196 after lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos suffered a broken foot in training.
It’s a remarkably similar situation to the build-up to UFC 189, when Conor McGregor was forced into a late change of opponent after Jose Aldo injured his ribs, and the promotion are already scrambling to find a replacement for the main event.
The late change means McGregor’s dream of holding two titles simultaneously, but MMAFighting.com‘s Ariel Helwani claimed the UFC are working to keep McGregor on a card that also includes Holly Holm’s first defence of her bantamweight belt against Miesha Tate.
Helwani then went on Twitter to rule featherweight contender Frankie Edgar out of the running.
Déjà vu all over again for @TheNotoriousMMA. This would be the fourth time in 8 UFC fights that he’s had to adjust to a change in opponent.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) February 23, 2016
If you’re clamoring for Edgar, he’s unavailable, I’m told. Dealing w/ an injury. There aren’t a ton of options. You can probably guess em.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) February 23, 2016
And this situation is uniquely different than UFC 189: McGregor was 12 days away from making history. Impossible to replicate those stakes.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) February 23, 2016
Spoke to Cerrone’s mgmt team this morning. They are interested in taking the fight. He’s on the shortlist, for sure.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) February 23, 2016
