Conor McGregor a no-show at UFC 286 for Leon Edwards vs Kamaru Usman 3 despite eyeing winner of welterweight title bout

CONOR MCGREGOR was a no-show at UFC 286 in London – despite planning to watch Leon Edwards’ title defence against Kamaru Usman.

London’s O2 Arena played host to Edward’s welterweight title trilogy fight with the UFC‘s former pound-for-pound king.

REUTERSLeon Edwards and Kamaru Usman renewed their rivalry at UFC 286[/caption]

GETTYEdwards retained his welterweight strap with a decision victory at the O2 Arena[/caption]

Conor Mcgregor was expected to gatecrash the card but no-showedREX

Several big names were in attendance at the North Greenwich dome for the promotion’s first pay-per-view event in England in over seven years.

But one man who did not show his face was McGregor, despite the Irishman’s tease.

The Notorious, 34, hinted this week he could make an appearance to see team-mate Gunnar Nelson’s clash with Bryan Barbarena.

During an appearance on The MMA Hour, he said: “Yeah, I’d like so.

“I would like that. I may be present for the [UFC 286] card.

“We’re making moves at the Black Forge in London, and I was scheduled to go out there after this.

“‘Gunni’ [Gunnar Nelson] is also on the card. So, it would be good to see him live, and it would be good to watch that welterweight title for sure.”

UFC president Dana White confirmed the promotion had preparations for the Irishman to make an appearance, saying: “We have seats for him [McGregor].

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“So, he’s running around. He’s on a big PR tour right now.”

“He did like, a pop-up here for his bar, and Proper Twelve, and all the stuff he’s got going on.

“But yeah, we have seats for him, if and when he shows.”

UFC poster boy McGregor revealed this week that he’d like to face the winner of Edwards and Usman’s rubber match.

He said: “Yeah, I’d like [a welterweight title shot]. So I would like that.”

Edwards, 31, retained his welterweight crown with a majority decision victory over former pound-for-pound king Usman,

McGregor hasn’t set foot inside the octagon since breaking his leg in his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier in July 2021.

He’s set to return to the cage later this year for a welterweight showdown with Michael Chandler.

A date for the bout, however, hasn’t been finalised as McGregor is currently not in the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s testing pool – which he must be in for six months before he’s eligible to compete.