A day ago, a superfight between UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor and UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 was all but a certainty. The matchup makes all the sense in the world, both financially and logically, and the only thing standing in its way was the official announcement.
That's what it seemed like, at least. But after a wild series of stories on Wednesday, the fates of both men are in doubt.
Questions began swirling on Tuesday night when UFC President Dana White made a surprising tweet to a fan, stating that the UFC wasn't looking to make Alvarez vs. McGregor, but was instead looking to make Alvarez vs. oft-injured top contender Khabib Nurmagomedov:
@kylemuir17 @TheNotoriousMMA @Ealvarezfight not true it's @TeamKhabib
— Dana White (@danawhite) September 21, 2016
That narrative was pushed further the following night on UFC Tonight, when the show discussed that the UFC was pulling Alvarez off the UFC 205 card entirely and was instead looking to book him opposite Nurmagomedov at UFC 206:
Per @MeganOlivi: Eddie Alvarez was sent a bout agreement for #UFC205 vs. Nurmagomedov. However, he missed the deadline to sign the contract.
— UFC Tonight (@UFCTonight) September 22, 2016
Alvarez has been sent a new bout agreement to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov in Toronto at #UFC206 in December.
— UFC Tonight (@UFCTonight) September 22, 2016
Included in that report was White stating that McGregor was unable to compete at UFC 205 due to a leg injury. ESPN.com's Brett Okamoto, however, reached out to the McGregor camp, who told him that McGregor is "fine":
According to sources close to McGregor, Conor is "fine" and the leg would not prevent him from fighting at UFC 205.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) September 22, 2016
Finally, MMAFighting.com's Ariel Helwani made a report on Twitter that ran counter to UFC Tonight's claims, saying no fight offers have been made to any of the three yet:
Neither Alvarez, McGregor have signed bout agreements for UFC 205. In fact, neither have been offered the fight yet. Same for Nurmagomedov.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) September 22, 2016
That makes it easy to wonder...what the heck is going on? The most popular (and probably most accurate) answer to that question right now is that this stems from a power struggle between the UFC and McGregor.
While McGregor and UFC decision-makers have maintained a cordial relationship in front of cameras, there have been signs of backstage tension for a long while now. From Frank Fertitta's mini-freakout after McGregor defeated Jose Aldo at UFC 194 to the UFC 200 debacle to White's visible frustration with McGregor at the infamous UFC 202 pre-fight press conference, it's clear that not everything is what it seems.
The plan (for now, at least) is for everything to be made clear next Tuesday, September 27, when the UFC hosts a press conference at Madison Square Garden to unveil the full UFC 205 card. Hopefully, concrete answers can surface by then.
