McGregor's future at MMA
Conor McGregor triumphantly made his return to the octagon and in 40 seconds knocked out Donald Cerrone in the welterweight bout. As the Irishman himself suggested, thanks to this success, he had many options for continuing his career, over which he will have to reflect in the near future. They discussed a possible duel with Jorge Masvidal and return to lightweight to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov, but this is not the whole list.
As McGregor himself stated, he is considering the possibility of another battle with Nate Diaz. It was the American who inflicted his first defeat in the Absolute Fighting Championship, when he “strangled” him at the UFC 196. This fight was the debut for the Irishman in the welterweight category and exposed his endurance problems. Nevertheless, Conor correctly perceived this bad experience, drew conclusions, and five months later took revenge.
“Come on, Nathan, let's go, brother. Fight number three ", - quotes the Irishman MMA Fighting.
It is worth noting that McGregor never abandoned the idea of completing the trilogy with Diaz, but before this was not the right moment. At first, his campaign for the lightweight title prevented him, then a boxing fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr., and then a fierce feud with Khabib Nurmagomedov. It is worth noting that now the situation has not changed and the meeting also seems unlikely.
The reason is that winning it will not bring Conor any dividends. Currently, Nate has a series of two consecutive defeats and is in eighth place in the welterweight rating. This battle is interesting only from a financial point of view, because it can attract a lot of fans to the screens, but it will not bring the Irish closer to his belt.
As for the light category, here he has the opportunity to fight with Justin Gatzy and Dustin Porrier. Unlike the duel with Diaz, fights with these opponents are much more important in the competitive plan, because both are in the top 5 lightweight rating. In addition, both did not appear in the cage for a long time, so the battle could be organized in the spring.
Despite the fact that Gatzy has a series of three victories in his asset, it is Porrier who is located higher in the ranking table. According to Dustin himself, precisely this fact is a sufficient argument for holding their revenge with McGregor. In September 2014, it took the Irish only 106 seconds to knock out the counterpart.
“Number two and number three?” Let's do it again, ”Porrier wrote, stressing that he was ready to fight in a light, welterweight or intermediate balance.
Call from Arum
At the same time, McGregor himself repeatedly admitted that he was not going to put an end to his boxing career. According to him, the defeat from Mayweather did not diminish his desire to perform in the ring, which was confirmed by rumors about a meeting with the legendary Manny Pacquiao. According to the Irishman, at the moment the battle has not been approved, but negotiations have not been stopped.
Nevertheless, well-known promoter Bob Arum considers Pacquiao not the best candidate for rivals for McGregor. The head of Top Rank admitted that he would like to see the Irish fight with the former absolute welterweight champion, and now the holder of the welterweight belt Terence Crawford. He said that it is the American who has wrestling skills, therefore he is able to fight both in the ring and in the octagon.
“McGregor is talking about a bout with Mayweather and Pacquiao. But I want him to fight Crawford. First by the rules of MMA, and then by the rules of boxing. I think Terence has wrestling experience, so he will not refuse to fight in mixed martial arts. This idea appeared in the last couple of days, and we will try to agree on this with Dana White, ”Aruma quotes BoxingNews24.
As McGregor himself admitted, earlier in a similar format his two-match duel with Mayweather should have passed, but the undefeated boxer refused to fight in the octagon. At the same time, Crawford has already expressed his willingness to enter the cage.
“Dana White, do I have to prepare my gloves for MMA?” Wrote the illustrious boxer on Twitter.
Meanwhile, the legendary athlete, and now promoter Oscar De La Hoya, believes that boxers and MMA fighters should refrain from conducting crossover fights.
“These are different sports. Everyone must do their job. For example, if McGregor comes out against Mayweather again, the outcome will be the same. Everything will be as before. And this is not because Conor shows himself poorly in the UFC. On the contrary, he is magnificent. But Mayweather, in turn, is very good at boxing, ”said De La Hoya BoxingScene.
Preparation of Nurmagomedov
If McGregor still decides to refrain from another epic with the transition to boxing, the most likely continuation of his career for him is a trip for the lightweight title. Fans around the world are looking forward to a rematch with Nurmagomedov, which may well take place in the fall of 2020. True, for this Habib needs to hold a third defense in a fight with Tony Ferguson.
Orel has already begun preparations for the 29th match according to the rules of MMA, which he himself reported on a social network. The reigning champion published a video of the training and appealed to the trophy seekers.
“The king has not gone anywhere and is not going to. Tell them I'm coming, ”Nurmagomedov wrote.
Many experts and fans consider Ferguson the only fighter in the world who can defeat Nurmagomedov. They speak for him an unpredictable style of warfare, character and a series of 12 consecutive victories. However, Habib’s father is confident that his son will again prevail.
“Did Tony get stronger?” It is important for me that Habib has never been weaker. He never missed so many hits, he is more powerful, more attacking and dominant fighter. I think we’ll roll Ferguson. But it cannot be said that the American passed over the years. In this case, he would have lost, but there wasn’t one, ”quoted Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov as saying“ Championship. ”
At the same time, the champion’s father once again firmly walked along McGregor. He previously said that his son would agree to a rematch with the Irish for only $ 100 million, and now said that the confrontation between McGregor and Donald Cerrone was contractual.
“Don't you suspect? You all understand, better than me. This is not a fight, but a fake! We saw before how Cerrone actually fights. It was not even like a duel. The UFC had to get Conor back. And due to what? A victory was needed, ”added Nurmagomedov Sr.
View this Instagram post
Posted by Khabib Nurmagomedov (@khabib_nurmagomedov) Jan 22, 2020 at 4:46 PST
The new enemy of Makhachev
In addition, Abdulmanap called the name of the opponent of another of his pupils. According to him, the next opponent of Islam Makhachev will be Carlos Diego Ferreira, who cracked down on Anthony Pettis in the UFC 246 tournament. “They will fight in a tournament in Brazil. When it will be? Honestly, I don’t know. There are no such details yet, ”said Nurmagomedov Sr.
At the moment, the promotion schedule includes only one tournament in Brazil, which is scheduled to take place on March 14 in the capital. There are also rumors that in May the promotion will organize the UFC 250 show in the country, but it will be held at the celebration of Ramadan, which practically excludes the participation of Makhachev in it.
For Islam, this battle promises to be extremely important. The Brazilian can be safely called the strongest opponent in the career of a Russian and his direct competitor for a place in the top ten strongest divisions. The victory over Pettis elevated Ferreira to 11th place in the ranking, while Makhachev is only at 14th. And this taking into account the fact that both athletes have six victories in a row.
The principle of the duel is added by the fact that Ferreira can be safely called the storm of Russians. In 2019, he fought twice with domestic fighters and both times prevailed. In February, he defeated Rustam Khabilov, and in September, he dealt with Mayrbek Taysumov. It is noteworthy that the fight took place at the UFC 242 tournament in Abu Dhabi, where Makhachev also played.