“We just want to meet them and finish all talks.”
Islam Makhachev could have an opportunity to fight Conor McGregor under the right circumstances. The reigning lightweight champion would first have to successfully defend his title against former interim straphanger Dustin Poirier atop the UFC 302 pay-per-view (PPV) event this Sat. night (June 1, 2024) in Newark.
McGregor would then have to defeat Michael Chandler at UFC 303 on June 29 in Las Vegas.
But Makhachev would rather face off against “Notorious” — and his whole team — in the streets, where the warring clubs can settle their differences once and for all. Consider it round two after the opening frame at UFC 229 back in late 2018, when industry jackass, Dillon Danis, set off an arena-wide brawl (precipitated by this debacle).
“It’s good memories, makes me excited,” Makhachev told ESPN MMA. “Beat Conor, beat his whole team, again, it’s gonna be fun. But we are on different level right now. When we meet his team, and we all team, in the street somewhere, and we have good fights. Because we all have many, many big experience in the street. We just want to meet them and finish all talks. Team vs. team — it’s going to be more interesting. Because already Khabib beat him in the cage, beat his corner. But team vs. team, maybe we can make Ultimate Fighter.”
Team vs. Team fighting is very popular in Russia.
The more likely scenario is that Makhachev — or Poirier, if he pulls off the bookie-busting upset — moves on to defend the lightweight title against No. 1-ranked title contender Arman Tsarukyan at some point later this year. As for McGregor, he claims to be fighting at least four-to-eight times per year, which has me worried about his pre-fight sobriety.
For much more on Makhachev’s title defense at UFC 302 click here.