Kamaru Usman has claimed there was no response from Conor McGregor after he was made an offer to fight for the welterweight title.
Usman is the current champion at 170lbs and has made five successive defences of his title including two against Jorge Masvidal.
McGregor previously fought at 170lbs with two fights against Nate Diaz in addition to his most recent victory over Donald Cerrone.
The 'Nigerian Nightmare' has claimed a deal was put to McGregor before Usman eventually went on and fought Masvidal.
"I would not fight Khabib. Khabib is like my brother, I see no interest in that. Conor, absolutely," Usman told Club Shay Shay. "I gave him a chance. I gave him a chance, he was barking because that's what he do now, he tweet a lot. We call him Twitter fingers now.
"So one time, before I fought [Jorge] Masvidal, he was tweeting a lot. I said, 'Here's your chance. If you pick up the phone right now and called the UFC, they ain't going to say no to you to challenging for the belt.'
"Then, he was quiet. And then the next week he started calling out Anderson Silva, retired fighters, and things like that. So would I fight Conor? The offer is there."
McGregor and Usman have regularly exchanged verbal jabs over a potential welterweight clash, with both men adamant they would win the fight.
The Irishman initially claimed that he saw many holes in Usman's performance against Colby Covington last time out and would be happy to try and exploit them to "spark" him in a title clash.
Usman quickly fired back with a stern-worded tweet: "Spark who?? You must be talking about that pipe you’ve been smoking.
"Unlike you, if I’m gonna talk s*** I'll @ you. Now be quiet before I call Poirier or Khabib or Diaz to finish you again."
The Nigerian later claimed McGregor lived a tough life after pointing out that many people are ready to point out his downfalls as soon as they occur.
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McGregor is currently pondering his UFC return with options on the table at both 155lbs and Usman's division 170lbs.
His weight has climbed to 190lbs during his recovery but he is now making a return to training as he eyes a summer comeback.
The 33-year-old has been backed to defeat Usman in a potential title clash if the opportunity arises.
"As far as just generally, how would Usman do compared to McGregor?" boxing legend Teddy Atlas posed as a hypothetical question during an interview with The Schmo.
"In some ways, you would think that the answer would be easily to say 'yeah, Usman would do as good or maybe better', he's got physicality, he's very strong, he's a decent puncher.
"But the point I'm making is that styles make fights, MMA, boxing, I don't care what it is that's consistent and that's reality.
"And for Usman, if they picked the right style that would have a lot to do with what kind of success or lack thereof he would have in boxing."
