Conor McGregor is coming back. He’s looking for his first win in MMA for three years. The Irishman has only fought twice in a cage since 2016. First, he beat Eddie Alvarez in style to win the lightweight title. But then after a hiatus, he came back to get brutalized by Khabib Nurmagamedov.
Even though he is a multimillionaire, McGregor still wants to fight. Donald Cerrone is his next opponent. ‘Cowboy’ is a popular figure amongst UFC fans. The serial record holder is a loyal company man, who has fought the best of the best across his career.
However, there was a surprise when it was revealed that the two will fight at welterweight. As both men are natural 155lbers this was unexpected. Dana White has since explained McGregor’s logic. In short, it’s because of Jorge Masvidal.
Gamebred
UFC President Dana White confirmed that McGregor has a fight with Jorge Masvidal in mind. Masvidal is one of the biggest draws on the roster right now. That would be a scintillating match-up because both men can trash talk and land devastating knockouts. McGregor would be a definite underdog though. The challenge does not daunt the Irishman.
“Conor has told me he definitely wants a fight with Masvidal,” White said. So we’ll see what happens,” White said in a radio interview.
If McGregor beats Cerrone then we could see a return of the BMF belt.
Practical
However, Joe Rogan believes that there is a very practical reason behind McGregor’s decision to take this fight at welterweight. The popular commentator and comedian said that it’s probably just because there’s no need for either man to drain themselves unnecessarily. He thinks McGregor’s days at featherweight took it out of him.
“Because Conor doesn’t want to lose any weight,” Rogan told Brendan Schaub on his podcast. “I think that guy tortured himself to get down to 145 so hard – and when you look at what he looked like when he was on the scale when he was flexing, he looked like a god damn zombie. It was horrible. So I think, whether he complains or not about that, nobody rides for free. You do that to your body for a couple of years, you do some damage and it makes it harder to lose the weight afterwards.
“So then he’s going up to 155. He’s obviously elite at 155, wins the title at 155, has the great rematch with Diaz at 170 and then comes back and fights Khabib at 155 and gets mauled. He has a fight with Cowboy, he’s really a 55er that can fight welterweight. That’s the right size for him versus, I don’t think Nate is fighting 155 any time in the future anymore.”
Great
Whatever happens, Rogan is excited anyway. In short, he thinks this is going to to be a fantastic fight. It’s definitely a very interesting match-up. Although McGregor is the favourite, you definitely can’t count Cerrone out. He’s got the height and reach to trouble the Irishman.
“Look, it’s gonna be f*cking great,” Rogan said. “Whether you watch it on TV or you watch it live, it’s gonna be f*cking great. And if Conor can catch him early, it could be very interesting… [But] if Cowboy can use his distance – and he’s very good at doing it – and he can avoid that straight left because Conor’s got a piston of a left hand.”
We’re excited about this one too. The two men will fight at UFC 246 in February. Las Vegas should brace itself for another Irish invasion.
