Arguably the biggest question in MMA right now is: Who will Conor McGregor Fight next?
After getting knocked out by Floyd Mayweather in August, Conor is expected to make an appearance in the cage around the end of the year. Tony Ferguson and Nate Diaz are far and away the strongest candidates for his next opponent.
Tony Ferguson holds the UFC Interim Lightweight Title and the longest win streak in the Lightweight division. Many fans feel that the Tony fight is necessary to legitimize the Lightweight belt. Conor was granted a title shot at lightweight after getting finished in a fight with Nate Diaz, then winning a razor-close split decision against him. In a private event Conor himself acknowledged that the belt had lost legitimacy, as he expressed a desire to “legitimize it again.” This is exactly what a fight with interim champion Tony Ferguson would do. The problem of course, is that Tony Ferguson is not a mainstream draw. A fight with him would be far less lucrative than the alternative. According to UFC commentator Joe Rogan:
“Tony’s… the interim champion and he’s the logical fight. Conor sells like f**king crazy and Conor versus Tony sells because Tony’s a legit threat. Conor versus a legit threat sells. Conor fighting someone sells but Conor versus a legit threat is where it gets interesting.”
But nobody can argue that a Tony fight would sell better than a rubber-match with Nate Diaz. Through his two fights with McGregor, Nate’s signature Stockton style and unique charisma have attracted mainstream attention. A trilogy fight with Conor McGregor is without question the biggest fight the UFC could possibly make. The problem is that Nate has lost four of his last seven fights. His number 6 ranking at Lightweight is extremely generous. For Conor to shun the interim belt-holder and defend his against the number 6 would be nothing short of ridiculous. UFC commentator Dan Hardy predicts that McGregor would relinquish his belt to Tony and fight Nate. But McGregor made an Instagram post suggesting that he would look to legitimize his belt.
Conor’s career has been a nonstop ascension to bigger and bigger events. A fight with Tony would represent a reversal of that trend, and many have speculated the Instagram post to be a negotiating tactic to pressure Nate into reasonable terms. Rogan also commented on that fight:
“Those guys are rivals man and Nate choked him the f**k out in the first fight. That’s always gonna be there. . . The big money would be the Nate Diaz fight even if Nate beat him in the second fight. You think you can go to the gas station right now and go, ‘Hey man, who’s Tony Ferguson?’ If you go to the average person and ask them who Nate Diaz is, way more people are gonna know who he is than Tony.”
In a way, this dilemma will determine the UFC’s policy on whether they favor the money fight or the right fight. And while most fans are hoping for the latter, recent trends indicate that Conor ‘s next fight could very well be against Nate.
Who do you think Conor McGregor should fight next?
