It seems a week can’t go by without Conor McGregor having his name in the news for the wrong reasons.
If reports are to be believed, Conor has caught the eye of the French authorities for some less than classy behaviour. After an odd cryptic post on social media left us bemused, many including myself want to see Conor back to expressing himself in the octagon with crisp left-handed precision.
The COVID-19 pandemic couldn’t have come at a worse time for fans of the Notorious one. He’d made it well known that he planned to fight three times in 2020. With 2021 only three-and-a-half months away, the question remains what next for MMA’s biggest star?
Dana White in a recent interview came out and said the UFC was working on a 2021 return for McGregor. Without a clear indication on who he’d match up against, I thought it’d be fun to play UFC matchmaker with three potential opponents.
The obvious one, is Jorge Masvidal. The UFC’s reluctance to make this fight has been pretty surprising with Jorge Masvidal being arguably the biggest MMA draw after Cono. This fight, especially with a BMF title on the line, would bank the UFC millions. It would likely be a safe bet to do over 2 million PPV buys and would pit 2 striking specialists up against one another. Sometimes the obvious option is the smart choice.
Another option would be El-Cucuy, Tony Ferguson. This would be a high risk-high reward fight for McGregor. A win against one of the lightweight division’s toughest competitors, is one that would lend automatic credibility to Conor’s case for a rematch against Khabib. In Ferguson’s last showing, a stoppage loss to Justin Gaethje, we saw the damage that a refined and precise striking approach could have. Conor possesses the skillset to do damage and with negotiations between Ferguson, the UFC and potential opponent Dustin Poirier hitting a wall, McGregor could swoop in and give MMA fans a treat.
When the UFC decide to make fun fights, the world often sits up to pay attention. Earlier this year McGregor proposed a super-fight at 170lbs with the greatest middleweight in UFC history, Anderson Silva. To the surprise of many however, the powers that be at the UFC were quick to turn it down. Considering that both Silva and McGregor were keen it was strange but the UFC moved to schedule Silva in a matchup against Uriah Hall and are now labelling it as a retirement fight. It’s unlikely to happen but it would be ‘fun’, which is what Dana White suggested.
All in all, I’d love to see how Conor would fare in any one of these three matchups. All three would likely be contested on the feet, would bank the UFC millions in terms of PPV buys and would be exciting.
Pull your finger out UFC, there’s a man on a yacht of the coast of France still in the USADA testing pool who needs a fight!
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