People are still wondering who will be the next challenger for UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor.
One of the most notable managers in MMA is Audie Attar. For those who might not know, his company, Paradigm Sports Management, represents several fighters including former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, current middleweight champion Michael Bisping, McGregor and interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson.
McGregor’s next opponent will be either Ferguson, which makes the most sense as McGregor has yet to make his first title defense as a champion and to unify the titles, or a trilogy fight against his arch-rival Nate Diaz. Both fighters each hold a win over each other. Attar believes that Mcgregor may soon face off against Ferguson.
Attar recently appeared on Bisping’s Believe You Me podcast (transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting) to talk about representing both clients as well as calling their eventual fight “inevitable.”
“The sport is one where they’re gonna compete. If you have clients in the same weight class and they’re the top of the division, they’re gonna meet. . . With Tony and Conor, it’s inevitable. You have the lightweight champ and the interim lightweight champ, so that’s a fight that’s naturally gonna happen.”
Ferguson won the interim title at the latest UFC PPV (UFC 216) by scoring a submission win over Kevin Lee with a triangle choke in the third round.
The reason for the interim bout was due to McGregor being unable to fight in the Octagon as he spent this year celebrating the birth of his child and pursuing a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather.
Although Attar refuses to say who is next for McGregor, he did state that the Diaz fight has some appeal due to it being a guaranteed success on PPV (pay-per-view).
However, at the end of the day, he believes that Ferguson has “earned a shot” and that it would validate the belt to make that fight.
“No, I can’t say [who McGregor will fight next]. Here’s what I will tell you, Tony earned a shot at the belt. He won the interim lightweight title. Conor doesn’t shy away from a challenge.
The Nate fight does make sense, obviously, because of the trilogy, they never fought at 155, but they both make sense in their own respective way. However, I do believe that when [McGregor and Ferguson] go at it, it will, in my opinion, validate the belt system. It will validate what a championship belt is all about.”
Keep in mind that the UFC lightweight champion has gone on record by stating that “legitimizing the title” is more important to him than money fights in the current state of his career.
Thus, it seems that a title unification bout may be on the horizon rather than a third fight with Diaz.
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