I know lowly bloggers like myself aren’t in a position to correct combat sports deities like Conor McGregor ... but that’s now how championship titles work.
Sure, the reigning 155-pound kingpin recognizes that interim straphanger Tony Ferguson is probably next in line for a crack at the “Notorious” crown, but McGregor can pretty much call his own shots and won’t rule out a rubber match against No. 6-ranked Nate Diaz, probably because it will return a much bigger payday than a showdown against “El Cucuy.”
From the Irishman’s conversation with Entertainment.ie (via MMA Fighting):
“What interests me is certainly a UFC bout, certainly a defense of my lightweight title. There is a fighter with the interim lightweight belt. I feel that will be next. We’ll see how negotiations go. The Diaz trilogy is also there. I can defend my belt against Nate. Maybe we can persuade one of these boxing opponents to step into the Octagon, or there’s also boxing bouts as well. So, there’s so many options. I feel to legitimize the belt — there’s an interim champion, I’m the unified champion — I feel that will be next. We are currently in contract negotiations, and we’ll see where it goes.”
I guess he didn’t bring hiz bawlz.
Diaz submitted McGregor in the UFC 196 welterweight headliner back in early 2016, then dropped a close decision to “Notorious” — also at 170 pounds — just a few months later in the UFC 202 pay-per-view (PPV) main event.
Nothing is official at this time and the promotion has already booked top lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov for UFC 219 (details), so that’s one less roadblock for Ferguson to get around. Also working in the favor of the interim champion is the price tag associated with a Diaz trilogy.
The next few weeks are going to be very, very interesting.
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