Conor McGregor back on UFC 200 card, he tweets

ByBRETT OKAMOTO
April 25, 2016, 2:33 AM

— -- Conor McGregor is back on UFC 200 -- at least, according to the fighter's social media feed.

McGregor, 27, announced via Twitter late Sunday evening that he is back on UFC 200 on July 9 in Las Vegas.

UFC officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment by ESPN.

The UFC pulled McGregor (19-3) from its landmark event last week after he refused to fly to Las Vegas to participate in promotional duties. At an official UFC 200 news conference Friday in Las Vegas, White repeatedly stated that McGregor would not appear on the card.

He offered to keep McGregor's scheduled opponent, Nate Diaz (19-10), on the event against a different opponent, but Diaz stated he was only interested in a fight against McGregor.

On Saturday, shortly after former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones (22-1) defeated Ovince Saint Preux at UFC 197 for the interim light heavyweight title, White told ESPN.com that it was "possible" Jones could headline UFC 200 against Daniel Cormier. Jones also said he felt he would be physically ready to compete by July 9 and wanted to headline the event. Cormier, who has been sidelined with a leg injury, is scheduled for an MRI on Monday.

"We try to give as much leeway as we can on things, but you have to show up and promote the fight," White said during Friday's news conference. "Is it too much to ask to try to shoot a commercial for the fight? A lot of these guys came here from different parts of the world [to promote]. But, you know, these guys all came. They have better things to do, and they're here. It's part of the job.

"We gave Conor every opportunity in the world to get here too. We get criticized a lot for bending too much for Conor, and we do. Conor is a guy who has stepped up and fought big fights on short notice, and I respect Conor very much as a fighter, and I like him, but you have to show up and do this stuff."

McGregor, from Dublin, said in a social media post last week that he was willing to travel to a UFC press conference to promote the event Wednesday in New York. In his discussions on the matter, White said he wasn't upset with the star fighter but asked how it would be "fair" to keep McGregor on the card after he skipped the commercial shoot in Las Vegas.

McGregor won the featherweight championship by knocking  Jose Aldo out in 13 seconds at UFC 194 in December. The finish set the mark for the fastest knockout in UFC title fight history. He was supposed to challenge Rafael dos Anjos for the lightweight title at UFC 196, but dos Anjos withdrew with a foot injury. Diaz stepped in on 11 days notice and handed McGregor his first defeat in the UFC via second-round submission.