Opponent wanted: Conor McGregor aims to fight again soon after UFC 246

By Case Keefer (contact)

Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020 | 2:08 a.m.

Kamaru Usman stayed seated, simulating a yawn. Jorge Masvidal stood and smirked.

After Conor McGregor defeated Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in the first round of the UFC 246 main event Saturday night, the two fighters in attendance at T-Mobile Arena on the short list to become his next opponent played it cool. But everyone knew their hearts were probably beating a tad quicker.

Everyone knew what they wanted. That’s because everyone in mixed martial arts wants a matchup against McGregor, the sport’s biggest star of all-time who’s singularly capable of producing life-changing money for each and every one of his opponents.

“Any of these little mouthy fools can get it — all of them, every single one of them,” McGregor said right after his win as Usman and Masvidal watched cageside. “It does not matter. I’m back and I’m ready.”

McGregor proved that at UFC 246, not allowing Cerrone to land a single strike while finishing their welterweight bout in 40 seconds. McGregor may have broken Cerrone’s nose with a shoulder from the clinch and dropped him to the ground with a high kick to the face.

Before Cerrone had even climbed off the canvas, questions were being thrown out about what’s next for McGregor. And, for once, he wasn’t ready to answer to them. Not with any specifics at least.

The superstar who had previously plotted his every move in the UFC no longer has any plans. Not as it pertains to any particular opponents.  

“The ‘who’ doesn’t matter to me now,” McGregor insisted. “I’m looking at dates now.”

McGregor wants to fight again as soon as possible, potentially in March or April, which limits his pool of opponents. It limits the chances of UFC President Dana White’s preferred next challenge for McGregor — a rematch with lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, who’s scheduled to take on Tony Ferguson in the main event of UFC 249 on April 18 in Brooklyn, N.Y.

McGregor is convinced that fight won’t happen, citing both men’s injury histories and the fact that it’s been booked several times over the years and canceled. He says he’ll be ready to fill in if either Nurmagomedov or Ferguson pull out.

But if they don’t, he’s not willing to wait to fight the winner. White says it would be foolish for McGregor not to wait and fight the winner.

“This is a massive fight with global interest,” White said. “It’s the fight you make. It’s the fight that makes sense…I’m telling you right now, Khabib vs. Conor is the biggest fight in the company’s history, the sport’s history but I think it might rival Conor vs. Floyd (Mayweather).”

Speaking of Mayweather, the boxer came out publicly after UFC 246 and posted a flyer of Mayweather vs. McGregor II on his Instagram account. Manny Pacquiao then followed and challenged McGregor in similar fashion.

McGregor laughed and expressed interest in both, but made it clear his current priority rests in mixed marital arts, not boxing. If he get his wish and there’s a short turnaround, even with Nurmagomedov off the table, there are three strong options.  

Option A) Masvidal, the veteran star who curiously wore the exact black and gold Versace bath robe McGregor once sported at an open workout to UFC 246. He won the “BMF” title by defeating Nate Diaz in the main event of UFC 244 in November at Madison Square Garden.

“That’s not a great belt, is it?” McGregor said. “But I’ll still take it and add it to the list. That would be good night for Jorge if you ask me. All the best to him. God loves a trier.”

Option B) Usman, the welterweight champion whom McGregor put down earlier in the week by saying his wrestling-heavy strategy was a, “sniff-the-jockstrap style.” Usman’s twitter was evidently hacked on Saturday night and sent out vulgar messages to McGregor before the social-media network suspended the account.

“I’d be skeptical of that,” McGregor said, “because one (tweet) came through early and it had all the hallmarks of that little (expletive) weasel (Nurmagomedov and Usman manager) Ali (Abdelaziz).”

“It was a bit of a weird night, right? The two boys doing weird stuff.”

Option C) Old rival Nate Diaz, whom also took to twitter to call out McGregor. The fighters have split two meetings so far, with Diaz submitting McGregor at UFC 196 before losing by unanimous decision at UFC 202.

“Let’s go Nathan,” McGregor said. “Let’s go brother. Number 3, it’s always here.”

McGregor hoped to make progress on his next fight Tuesday night. He said that’s when former UFC owner, and Stations Casino magnate, Lorenzo Fertitta returned to town from a trip.

For tradition’s sake, McGregor wants to go out to dinner with White and Fertitta. The three will discuss the future.

Expect White to make a hard sell on holding off for Nurmagomedov, even though the undefeated champion might be the only fighter not exactly interested in facing McGregor. Nurmagomedov has requested McGregor win, “nine or 10 fights,” before a rematch.

Nurmagomedov is not as desperate for another huge payday either considering White said he now had $50 million after the first McGregor fight in October 2018.  

“The reality is, Khabib has never turned down a fight,” White said. “Khabib doesn’t turn down fights. That’s not his style. He hates Conor McGregor and Conor McGregor hates him so whenever you ask one about the other, those are the types of answers you’re going to get.”

The site of their potential rematch is another complication. White would always prefer to do a fight of that magnitude in Las Vegas, but following his punishment for the post-bout brawl in the last McGregor fight, Nurmagomedov has vowed to never fight here again.

White said that left New York City, Dallas and London as potential sites. McGregor vetoed London and made it clear which venue he would pick if the fight was to be contested in America — the Raiders’ new, soon-to-be opened home.

“Allegiant Stadium looks phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal,” McGregor said. “I’d love to be the first combatant to compete in there. That’s definitely on the radar and it’s so easily done.”

McGregor says his love of mixed martial arts is now restored and he wants to make the most of it. The opportunities are endless, and McGregor is open to all of them.

“The whole world lights up when I fight, so I want to get back out there again,” he said. “Soon enough, we’ll see what happens."

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.