In most mixed martial arts (MMA) circles, it’s long been thought that when UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor returns to the Octagon – if he does return – it would be against interim champion Tony Ferguson.
But with “The Notorious” galavanting about Europe and flaunting the newfound wealth of his $100 million payday to box Floyd Mayweather last year, it’s anything but a certainty that the Irish megastar will unify his title with “El Cucuy” anytime soon. It’s made for a messy lightweight title picture, to say the least – and that landscape only grew messier when top contender Khabib Nurmagomedov put on one of the most dominant performances of his dominant career against Edson Barboza at UFC 219 (Dec. 30, 2017) last Saturday night in Las Vegas.
McGregor is currently seeking some sort of ownership or promoters stake for his next fight, making his return seem more likely for the summer (hopefully) than for the spring. So that might mean we see the oft-scheduled Ferguson vs. Nurmagomedov booked yet again for sometime early in 2018 according to UFC president Dana White, who told Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole that if McGregor is ready to fight early this year, they’ll book Ferguson vs. Khabib for March with the winner fighting the Irishman.
If he’s not, well, the UFC would have to wait it out and then make Ferguson vs. Khabib for the official title, something fans have been crying for quite a lot recently:
“Khabib looks like an unbelievable force and is a star in the making. As long as Conor is willing to fight by March, we could do Khabib versus Tony and then the winner fights Conor for the title,” White said. “Of, if Conor wants to sit out until next fall, then we’d have to make Khabib versus Tony for the title, not the interim title.”
That’s a lot that has to go right for McGregor to meet Nurmagomedov, a fight that’s arguably the biggest match they could make on the heels of Nurmagomedov’s big win, which came months after McGregor vs. Ferguson was the fight to make over McGregor’s fast-fading trilogy match with Nate Diaz.
Regardless, White said McGregor is looking to fight in August, but that’s too long for him to go without defending the belt and ‘can’t happen’:
“I love that matchup (against Nurmagomedov), but Tony Ferguson is the interim champion, and Conor and I haven’t really figured out when he’s coming back and what’s going on,” White said. “So Conor has some big decisions to make here, really quick. If he waits — I don’t think Conor wants to fight until August, but if he waits until August or September, that’s around two years since the belt has been defended, and that can’t happen.”
The controversial executive sounds like he’s finally beginning to “get tough” on McGregor, who’s earned an immeasurable amount of criticism for failing to defend either of his UFC titles since first winning the featherweight gold from Jose Aldo over two years ago.
However, the UFC needs bankable stars right now, and McGregor is clearly their biggest meal ticket, so they’ll more likely to talk a big game in the media while they wait on pins and needles for him to return and defend his belt.
So the saga goes on, with no concrete news in sight. Here’s to hoping fans don’t have to wait until September to find out.
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