Conor McGregor tweets he’s back on UFC 200 card; Dana White issues denial

Ultimate Fighting Championship superstar Conor McGregor indicated he will compete on the organization’s historic UFC 200 card at T-Mobile Arena on July 9 after all.

The declaration came as news to UFC president Dana White, however.

Early Monday, McGregor posted the news through the same social media site he utilized to announce his supposed retirement last week.

“Happy to announce that I am BACK on UFC 200!,” the featherweight champion postd. “Shout out to @danawhite and @lorenzofertitta on getting this one done for the fans. #respect”

White told the Los Angeles Times on Monday he had not talked to McGregor or his representatives since last week and no deal was in place for the fighter to be reinstated from the card.

McGregor was removed from a scheduled welterweight main event rematch against Nate Diaz last week when he chose not to fly to Las Vegas to participate in promotional activities for UFC 200.

After first posting he would retire, the 27-year-old later released a lengthy diatribe on Facebook complaining about the amount of press he was asked to do and claiming he needed to the time to prepare for an opponent that already defeated him in March.

During a bizarre news conference on Friday at the MGM Grand, the majority of questions directed at White concerned McGregor despite the fact he was represented by an empty chair while the other competitors from the event were all present.

White said at that event the decision to remove McGregor from the card was final even though he realized it was unpopular. He said he was working to find Diaz a replacement opponent in addition to booking another main event.

Diaz, however, said he would continue training for a matchup against McGregor and would take a vacation in July instead if McGregor wasn’t going to compete.

After Jon Jones won the interim light heavyweight title on Saturday night, White indicated a title unification bout between Jones and champion Daniel Cormier was the leading candidate to be the new main event for UFC 200 provided both fighters would be healthy.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj