Conor made things perfectly clear in a recent interview…
Conor McGregor sometimes receives as much media coverage when he doesn’t have a fight scheduled as he does when he has a confirmed upcoming bout. Rumours of who he will face next have been rampant in recent weeks but Conor made his intentions known conclusively in a recent interview.
While he is now saying he knows which fight he wants next, that isn’t to say there isn’t the usual long-line of potential opponents for him to choose from.
Everyone Wants to Fight Conor
“I’ve got everyone clawing at me, trying to get at me, and that’s from multiple sports, multiple organizations, multiple everything,” McGregor said. “It’s been like that for a long, long time, I feel, so it’s just another day for me. I know there are many contenders in the UFC. There are many boxing contenders as well”
Conor might be guilty of a little embellishment here. While he does have many contenders clawing to get the big pay cheque which comes from fighting him, it has only been that way for a short amount of time.
It hasn’t even been 2 years since he defeated Jose Aldo at UFC 194. It’s only been slightly over 2 years since he defeated Chad Mendes at UFC 189. In that short amount of time, however, Conor has broken UFC PPV records and talked his way into a huge payday via fighting Floyd Mayweather.
When Will We See Conor McGregor vs Nate Diaz III?
One of the most talked about potential next fights for Conor is the trilogy bout with Nate Diaz. From a pure business perspective, this is the bout that makes the most sense. Conor’s two bouts with Nate are the two highest grossing PPV main events in company history, there’s no doubt WME-IMG would like to line their pockets with the proceeds from a 3rd one.
Unfortunately, it appears likely we won’t see Nate Diaz again until this bout. While Nate has consistently said he doesn’t need to face Conor next, he seems to be indicating he’ll only fight if he’s guaranteed a large pay cheque for doing so.
Conor Announces He Will Fight Tony Ferguson Next
“What interests me is certainly a UFC bout, certainly a defence 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.”
Based on Conor’s above comments it seems certain his next bout is with Tony Ferguson to unify the lightweight championship. Also based on his above comments, it appears negotiations are underway to make this fight happen.
“The Diaz trilogy is also there,” McGregor said. “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.”
