McGregor was in the front row at the O2 Arena on Saturday night as he watched Anthony Joshua knock out Robert Helenius in devastating fashion in the seventh round. McGregor’s alcoholic beverage brand, ‘Forged Irish Stout’ was sponsoring the event, and so ‘The Notorious,’ being the shrewd marketer that he is, was using every opportunity to make his presence known in London.
Conor McGregor’s roadmap for next three fights
Gareth A Davies of Talksport asked Conor McGregor when fans could expect to see him in action again. ‘The Notorious’ was very forthcoming in his response, giving Davies a roadmap for his next three UFC fights. In an ideal world, first up for McGregor will be a bout with Michael Chandler in December. The confirmation from McGregor is a relief to many who have been watching tensions build between the pair on the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter.
A fight between the two coaches has been thrown into jeopardy the past couple of weeks, with McGregor dismissing the idea on social media, saying he wanted to fight Justin Gaethje next instead. Luckily, the comments were in jest; ‘The Notorious’ told Gareth A Davies that he was just messing with Chandler over social media and that he intends to compete against ‘Iron Mike’ before the year’s end.
Providing he gets the victory, McGregor would then like to face Justin Gaethje for the BMF title sometime next year, after which he will look to conclude his trilogy with Nate Diaz, with the pair currently tied at one win apiece. How realistic is Conor’s roadmap?
The Chandler fight can easily be made, but it’s unclear whether December is possible. All would depend on when McGregor entered the USADA drug testing pool. A period of six months’ worth of clean testing is required before he is sanctioned to fight again in the UFC. Providing McGregor entered the testing pool in June, a fight in December shouldn’t be too much of an issue. Whether he did or not? Who knows.
Justin Gaethje and the BMF title
This is where the timeline gets a bit tricky. A win over Chandler in December would put McGregor on course for a fight with Justin Gaethje in late Spring or early Summer. Following his win over Dustin Poirier last month, Gaethje will probably look to fight against the winner of Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira, who fight for the lightweight title on October 21 at UFC 294.
Would Gaethje rather have a fight against McGregor instead of a lightweight title shot? Undoubtedly, a fight against McGregor would result in a much higher payday. Still, we know from numerous interviews that Gaethje has given in the past that leaving a legacy in Mixed-Martial Arts (MMA) is important to him. That being said, a victory over McGregor would go some way to achieving that, but not as much as being the UFC champion would.
The trilogy fight with Nate Diaz
So, let’s say McGregor fights Chandler and then Gaethje; how likely is a fight with Nate Diaz approximately twelve months from now? Not likely at all.
A year is a very long time in combat sports, and it’s unclear if Diaz will ever return to the UFC. Prior to his recent boxing match with Jake Paul, Diaz stated his intentions to return to combat sports, preferably the UFC, to face a ‘real fighter.’ Then, during his in-ring interview following the boxing match with Paul, Diaz said he would be open to fighting ‘The Problem Child’ in MMA – presumably due to the substantial money on offer.
As Jake Paul has signed with the PFL, a fight for Diaz in another organization could affect his relationship with senior figures at the UFC, who may then be reluctant to allow Diaz to return. We may be reading too much into this, so let’s imagine the UFC were to welcome Diaz back into the organization with open arms. Should McGregor defeat Chandler and Gaethje, will he really be calling for a fight with Diaz to conclude the trilogy?
It’s more likely that McGregor would fight for the lightweight title. Two victories over huge names in the lightweight division would be enough for McGregor to warrant a title shot, particularly given his megastar status. He could fight Diaz further down the line as the bout will always be there; A McGregor Vs. Diaz trilogy isn’t dependent on the recent results of either man. If McGregor beat Michael Chandler and then lost to Justin Gaethje, a fight with Nate makes more sense.
As UFC President Dana White always says, we’ll have to see how this thing plays out.
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