UFC President Dana White loves money. We all know. But it can be the only reason why he’s talking about letting Conor McGregor fight for the lightweight title again. First of all, McGregor hasn’t competed for over a year when he lost convincingly to Khabib Nurmagamedov in the most one-sided fight of his career.
The man with the best claim to the next title shot is Justin Gaethje. Stuck in limbo, ‘The Highlight’ is waiting for Khabib to fight Tony Ferguson next April. It’s difficult to argue with the opinion that he deserves the next shot. Especially since in his last fight, he beat the man that McGregor is going to fight next.
Gaethje KOed Cerrone at 155lbs. Meanwhile, ‘The Notorious’ will fight Cerrone at welterweight. The big question then is why would a fight in another division earn McGregor a championship bout at lightweight? In short, we know the answer. Money talks and the Irishman does what he wants.
Deserving
When pressed about the issue by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, White was unconvincing in his answer. He tried to make out that McGregor has done so much for MMA that his legal battles don’t matter. It’s definitely not the most persuasive argument.
”C’mon guy,” White said with a smirk. “Conor, look what Conor’s done over the last however many years, right? Then he loses to Khabib in a fight that was – when you talk about bad blood – it’s like the next level of bad blood. Gaethje was on his way up, too. We’ve offered Gaethje a lot of fights that Gaethje hasn’t taken, either. So Conor’s in line next for (a title) fight if he beats ‘Cowboy.’”
Over the past few years, McGregor has been arrested multiple times for assaults, theft, destruction of property and driving offences. Oh, and he also has two sexual assault investigations looming. It’s definitely been a busy couple of years.
Allegations
Indeed, White was forced to respond to questions about the sexual assault allegations. Once again he wasn’t convincing. But the company has a history of signing up talent who’ve been violent towards women. However, this would be the next level if proven true.
“I didn’t even know (about the criticism),” White said. “He hasn’t been charged with anything. You can’t accuse somebody and stop them from making a living when they haven’t even been charged of anything.
“Conor McGregor has made a lot of bad decisions in the past several years. He’s paid for it. Then he walked into court and plead guilty to punching that guy in the face in Ireland. He paid for the slapping of the phone out of the thing. He attacked the bus and paid for that.”
Money Talks
Justin Gaethje should look away now. Realistically, there should be a title eliminator between ‘The Highlight’ and ‘The Notorious.’ That would make perfect sense but of course, the Irishman doesn’t want that heat in his first fight back. He’s just been too violent for his own good.
A Khabib v McGregor rematch would make sense if the Russian loses to Ferguson. It would clear the path for Gaethje to fight for the title. Then the Khabib v McGregor winner would be next in line. But MMA math doesn’t work like that. The dollars are what matter. It’s plain and simple.
However, if you’re in Gaethje’s shoes, or Francis Ngannou’s, or Joseph Benavidez’s then that’s not going to make you happy. Sadly, it’s a business and money does the talking.
