Conor McGregor: Khabib 'Chickening Out' with UFC 249 Withdrawal Amid Quarantine

While the majority of the world is dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and the social-distancing measures that come with it in an effort to slow the spread of the disease, MMA fighter Conor McGregor believes Khabib Nurmagomedov is "chickening out" as he is unable to leave Russia.

Nurmagomedov appeared on an Instagram Live chat (h/t ESPN's Ariel Helwani) and said he is stuck in his hometown of Dagestan, Russia, because the borders are closed during the pandemic.

That means he won't be able to fight Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 as originally scheduled on April 18, and McGregor believes he is doing so to avoid the showdown that has been canceled and rescheduled a number of times:

McGregor also said he is "in shape to fight right now" and happy he didn't have a fight booked during the coronavirus pandemic because he "would have consumed all the incorrect data to support me taking part in the bout, and I would have followed through, competed. And won."

The 31-year-old defeated Donald Cerrone in January, which was his first UFC fight since he famously lost to Nurmagomedov in October 2018. That bout is better remembered for the brawl that broke out in the aftermath, but it was clear McGregor was outmatched at the time.

McGregor didn't think the fight between Nurmagomedov and Ferguson was going to happen for some time.

In January, UFC President Dana White told TMZ Sports (h/t Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie), "Here's the thing: Realistically, Conor believes that Khabib vs. Tony Ferguson will not happen. We've tried to do this fight many, many times. Conor believes it won't happen."

Nurmagomedov officially pulled out of the fight Wednesday with an Instagram message that read, in part, "I understand everything and I'm definitely upset more than you to cancel the fight, probably like all others, I had many plans after the fight, but I can't control it all."

Ferguson echoed some of McGregor's sentiments about it during an interview with Helwani (h/t Nolan King of MMA Junkie) when he suggested Nurmagomedov should have flown back to the United States before there were any travel bans.

"He bailed out, man," Ferguson said. "He bailed out."

This is the fifth time a fight between Nurmagomedov and Ferguson has been called off. 

ESPN.com provided a timeline for all of them. The first was canceled because of Nurmagomedov's rib injury, the second was canceled because of Ferguson's lung issue, the third because Nurmagomedov was in the hospital and the fourth because Ferguson required surgery.