So Conor McGregor Wants In On Fight Island? Let's Talk Opponents!
Yesterday, when asked (by me) about when we could potentially be seeing Conor McGregor return to the octagon, UFC President Dana White checked his phone and replied...
“This is Conor right here...he’s asking me, ‘What date could I fight on Fight Island, and will there be fans?’ We’re not talking about a specific opponent, but he wants to fight.
It sounds like he wants to fight in June and he’s asking if there would be fans there. There would not be fans, and the fight would either be mid-June or the end of June. But Conor wants to fight.”
Pretty fuckin' exciting, if ya ask me - but who could the Champ Champ face off against in June?! I think there's probably about 4-5 names in the red panty night rotation right now, so let's discuss!
Jorge Masvidal - Listen, I know Dana told me right to my face that Conor McGregor vs Jorge Masvidal wasn't the fight they're looking at right now...but I still sorta think Conor McGregor vs Jorge Masvidal is the fight they're looking at right now.
It's the biggest fight available, both fighters have showed that they're down, and the night after Dana White revealed that the UFC had something "interesting" for Masvidal (that wasn't Usman), McGregor tossed this up on Instagram...
hmm emojis intensify
I suppose my only hold up here is the "no fans" thing. I can't imagine the UFC wanting to put this fight on without fans in attendance, being they could probably sell out the new Raiders Stadium with this one, but at the same time, I have no idea what their financials look like right now. They may need a huge PPV to make up for loss of revenue that makes this worth it. I've got noooooooo clue.
God, this would be insane.
Nate Diaz - Nate Diaz's name will probably forever be linked to Conor McGregor's until the trilogy is completed, so you can't count him out either. This is another situation where both fighters want it, and have wanted it for a while, so the time may just finally be right!
Conor definitely seemed down after the Cowboy win…
Paul Felder - I don't know what Conor's beef with Paul Felder is, but apparently he's got beef with Paul Felder.
After McGregor whooped Cowboy's ass in January he hopped on the microphone and exclaimed, "Any one of these mouthy fools can get it, even that little fool at the desk. All of 'em. Every single one of them can get it, Joe, it does not matter. I'm back and I'm ready."
"That Little Fool at the Desk" would be Paul Felder, who is currently the #7 ranked lightweight in the world, and down for a fight himself…
I highly doubt it'll be Paul Felder, but wouldn't necessarily be surprised if it wound up being him. Seems like a fun/easy quarantine fight for Mystic Mac that'll keep him on track and guarantee him a highlight reel KO. All due respect to Poirier, as well. These are just facts.
Dustin Poirier - Conor McGregor fought Dustin Poirier back in 2014, and pretty much completely decimated him in a single round, but Poirier has become a completely new fighter since then, and has some incredibly impressive wins to his name. Plus, both fairly recently lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov, so this makes sense as a rematch…
If McGregor wanted a win that'd come with a little more credibility than the Cowboy fight, this would be a great one to take.
Kamaru Usman - I don't think they'd make this fight at all, but I've seen Usman's name thrown around on social media, so I figured I'd mention it. That just doesn't make a lick of sense to me. Not gonna happen. Here's a picture of Usman wearing a Barstool hat…
For those wondering about the Khabib Nurmagomedov rematch, and if that can happen, unfortunately it can not. Khabib's dealing with his father's health issues in Russia right now and then he's got Ramadan right afterwards. We probably won't see him back in the cage until the Fall.
My best bet would be Masvidal…with Diaz as a close second. I'm usually wrong on this shit so take that with a grain of salt. Who do you think Conor wants in June? Let me know in the comments below.
EDIT: Someone just asked me what I think about McGregor fighting Justin Gaethje in the hypothetical scenario where he beats Tony Ferguson. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say Justin Gaethje won't be ready to fight next month after 25 minutes in the cage with Tony Ferguson…