Conor McGregor next fight rumors 2016: Irishman has options other than UFC 200

(Reuters/Gary A. Vasquez)December 12, 2015; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Conor McGregor celebrates his championship victory against Jose Aldo during UFC 194 at MGM... Gary A. Vasquez February 25, 2016 09:03am EST

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor will be left idle for quite some time, meaning he stands to lose heavy money following his ouster from UFC 200.

With McGregor opting to focus more on preparations in his match against Nate Diaz, the UFC took him out of the main card for not wanting to help out in the promotions for UFC 200. The pullout meant McGregor missing out on a big payday, approximately about $1 million, which is a pretty hefty sum.

While the state of his relationship with the UFC is a big question mark, here is something interesting for "The Notorious." Word has it that McGregor is being offered a record $2 million to face Rasul Mirzaev at Fight Nights Global on June 17 though such is seen more as a PR stunt rather than something serious.

McGregor is technically under contract with the UFC, meaning fighting for another group practically makes it useless. But then again, there is an angle where McGregor can defy and take his act elsewhere, with the current row a valid reason.

Obviously, McGregor's stock has risen beyond reasonable levels and he has become a popular figure in the world of mixed martial arts fighting. That means that his fame is not limited to the UFC, though fighting outside that circle without any legal issues likely to evolve is near to impossible.

McGregor has practically no chance of making it to UFC 200 with a new main event already booked. With the McGregor vs. Diaz fight now shelved, it will be UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones instead, a fight which should have happened at UFC 197.

The thing here is that McGregor has options. He could bite or scoff them and the UFC may not be able to do anything about it. The row over UFC 200 is long and gone, though a bad blood build up could ensue if McGregor stands up to the UFC once again as far as its promotional activities are concerned.

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