Now that Conor McGregor has cemented himself as one of the all time greatest fighters in history (sorry, Floyd Mayweather, but he is), what’s next for the double champ?
Joe Rogan said back in October that the rumors he was hearing involved McGregor fighting Nate Diaz’s brother Nick. While MMA fans would most certainly welcome that fight, it’s not the one McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh has in mind for “The Notorious One”.
Appearing on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani (which for some reason is over four hours long), Kavanagh had this to say…
“I’m going to give you my small opinion. I think the second best 145-pounder is Max Holloway, that’s my opinion, and I think the second best 155-pounder is Nate Diaz, that’s my opinion. I think Nate would beat either Tony or Khabib. I think he really turned a corner in the Michael Johnson fight. I think we saw a new version of him.
“He looked fantastic in both Conor fights, Conor just bested him. That’s my opinion – my small, unimportant opinion. There’s no need to tweet me your opinions. He asked me for mine, I’m just giving it. “That’s who I think the two best guys are.”
“I understand Khabib is the number one contender and it is probably going to be him, if that’s how the company works. But for me, interest wise, the Nate Diaz fight would interest me greater. If it’s Tony [Ferguson], if it’s Khabib [Nurmagomedov], great, they are two fantastic fighters and a lot to learn in the preparations for them. Both of their fights will be interesting to watch, a lot of problems for me to solve and to see Conor beat both of them will be interesting for me. But, I think Nate would be quite a bit better than either of them. As a fan, that’s the fight that would interest me most.”
A third McGregor-Diaz is probably the fight that would interest EVERYONE the most.
Only one small problem with that, however, as we sit here today. McGregor says he isn’t fighting again until the UFC gives him some equity in the company – something no fighter has ever received.
In the meantime, negotiations between McGregor and the UFC might just be the best fight we get to see until Conor does finally decide to step back into the Octagon.
Stay tuned.