Conor McGregor is back on top of the world after beating Donald Cerrone. He put in a blistering performance to scorch ‘Cowboy’ in front of the watching world. The Irishman confirmed his motivation is back and the big question is just who will he fight next?
Jorge Masvidal and Khabib Nurmagamedov have been discussed at length in the media. However, Nate Diaz and Justin Gaethje are also viable options. Only time will tell, but McGregor did everything right to get the hype back around his name.
Meanwhile, he has a message for his detractors. He says that he’s never been properly beaten in an MMA fight because he hasn’t been knocked out. Speaking to Ariel Helwani, he explained his feelings.
Losing Streak
There is a running narrative that McGregor was on a losing streak coming into this fight. That was misleading because of his boxing defeat to Floyd Mayweather and his MMA loss to Khabib. However, he doesn’t accept that narrative. In short, he’s never been properly knocked out. He told ESPN:
“Come on, now, I lost bleeding twice. I lost in a boxing match and then I tapped in an MMA fight. I’ve never really been beaten, let’s be real. You’ve never seen me beat. You beat a man by concussing him with blows to the nut. Putting him down.
“Two matches. That narrative of it’s been so long… it’s just because I’ve been outside of the game sporadic in my commitment to it. So it’s good to be back most certainly.”
Next Up
It’s looking increasingly unlikely that McGregor will fight Jorge Masvidal next. First of all, a fight against a fellow lightweight could be on the cards. UFC President Dana White is pushing Masvidal to fight for the title. Masvidal himself has said that he’s ready to move on and stop waiting for McGregor.
He [McGregor] don’t want the fight so I don’t give a f*ck no more,” Masvidal said, per MMA Fighting. “I’m moving on from that fight. This dude didn’t want the fight. I’m not here to bully. I guess it’s Usman’s head. He sealed Usman’s fate now.”
Trilogy
Michael Bisping believes he knows who McGregor fights next. He thinks a Nate Diaz trilogy fight will fall into place because of what’s going on in the MMA world right now. You know what? It actually makes a lot of sense. Diaz took a savage beating from Masvidal and McGregor will feel he has his number. It’s also a very fan-friendly fight. Sorry, Gaethje. Bisping told Ariel Helwani:
“God bless him, he’s making tons of money, he’s going to fight Khabib, or I tell you what’s going to happen, I guarantee he’s going to fight Nate Diaz next.
‘Masvidal and Usman are probably going to fight each other. ‘Khabib is going to fight Tony in April, then it’s Ramadan. If he beats Tony he’s not going to fight any time soon. ‘Conor already teased Diaz and that’s good business for everybody involved. The fans want to see it, everyone makes money, there you go, that’s what’s going to happen, there’s my prediction.”
