McGregor submitted to be included in UFC 222 vs. Frankie Edgar

LAS VEGAS (UPI) — Conor McGregor says he put his name in for UFC 222, but was told there “wasn’t enough time to generate the money that the UFC would need.”

McGregor, 29, is 21-3 in his UFC career. He hasn’t had an MMA fight since Nov. 12, 2016 when he beat Eddie Alvarez by TKO.

“I am fighting again. Period,” McGregor posted Thursday on Instagram. “I am the best at this.”

“I put my name forward to step in at UFC 222 to face Frankie Edgar when Max Holloway pulled out, but I was told there wasn’t enough time to generate the money that the UFC would need.”

UFC 222 is set for March 3. It is the featherweight title fight. McGregor’s last fight came in a boxing mega-bout loss to Floyd Mayweather in August.

“I was excited about bouncing in last minute and taking out the final featherweight, without all the rest of the stuff that comes with this game,” McGregor added.

“Please respect the insane amount of work outside the fight game that I have put in. On top of the fighting. I am here. It is on them to come and get me. Because I am here.”

McGregor signed his message — which included a photo of himself wearing a turtleneck over his mouth — with “The Champ Champ.”

His post had more than a million likes in three hours.

Edgar’s manager told ESPN that McGregor was a “liar” when asked if McGregor offered to fight Edgar at UFC 222.

UFC president Dana White recently told TMZ Sports he is stripping McGregor of his lightweight title belt so Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson can fight for that title. He said he’d like to see McGregor fight the winner.

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