For a couple of weeks, one of the most talked about UFC matchups was a potential showdown between lightweight stars Conor McGregor and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Both fighters seemed to want the fight, UFC President Dana White was on board, and of course, every fight fan with a pulse was eager to see it happen. UFC commentator Joe Rogan even said it was a ‘done deal.’

Unfortunately, it now sounds as though the fight could be off the table.

Dana White now claims that Conor McGregor wants a rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov — though Nurmagomedov’s manager offers a different viewpoint. White also says that the UFC is now looking at a fight between Cowboy and Al Iaquinta.

“Yeah, so the fight just didn’t happen,” White recently told ESPN. “You know Conor… What Conor McGregor really wants is to fight Khabib. That’s the fight Conor really wants.”

“So we are looking at another opponent (for Cerrone).” White concluded. “We are looking at maybe him and ‘Raging Al’.”

Speaking on a recent episode of his popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Rogan discussed this seemingly smothered Conor McGregor vs. Cowboy fight.

He says one of the main issues stopping the fight from being booked is that the UFC wanted it to serve as a co-main event, under a title fight, on a pay-per-view.

Yes, the UFC apparently wanted the biggest star in MMA history to co-headline a pay-per-view…

“They were trying to do ‘Cowboy’ versus Conor and apparently the sticking point was that it was going to be a co-main event,” Rogan said (transcript via MMA News). “I think the idea is that they have to have world titles as a main event for pay-per-view.”

Joe Rogan also commented on what is motivating Conor McGregor at this stage.

“I think he’s only interested in big fights,” he said. “Like things that excite him now because he’s got so much money and so much success. It’s just one of those things.”

Do you think we’ll ever see Conor McGregor and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone fight?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 3/5/2019.