Fans? Yeah, recent UFC acquisition Conor McGregor made a lot of those when he scored a first-round knockout over Marcus Brimage in his inaugural fight with the promotion.
Friends at the office? Nah, McGregor hasn’t picked up too many of those just yet.
The outspoken Irishman recently drew the ire of featherweight contender Cub Swanson, who didn’t take too kindly to what McGregor said via interview and Twitter. According to Swanson, McGregor should worry more about the fight in front of him rather than ones he perceives as possibilities down the road.
When speaking to MMA Roasted (h/t John Joe O’Regan of Fighters Only), Swanson expressed his dismay over McGregor‘s comments.
I like the kid, I really see a future for him in the UFC because he is talented. But he runs his mouth and you’ve got to be careful when you do that. I’m a fan of many fighters but as soon as they start looking at me, the fighter in me comes out and I’m like, ‘You better watch your damn mouth.’
Swanson recently cemented himself as a top fighter at 145 pounds, stopping Dennis Siver back at UFC 162. He is currently awaiting announcement for his next fight, but it is unlikely that next fight will involve McGregor.
That would be a fight that I would love to do once he makes a name for himself but right now he is still a nobody. If he lives up to the hype he can fight me down the road but for now he has to fight somebody in the top ten first.
McGregor‘s next step toward landing a bout with Swanson, or any other top-10 featherweight, is to take care of business this Saturday, Aug. 17, when he faces off with fellow up-and-comer Max Holloway. The matchup is one that has fight fans salivating, as both McGregor and Holloway are known to favor fan-friendly, striking styles.
Should McGregor come away from the match victorious, perhaps he’ll use the post-fight platform to call out a certain someone?
We’ll see.
As Swanson implies, a match between the two probably isn’t in the immediate future, though it could certainly happen within the next couple of years.
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