Who’ll Conor fight next and can he pull it off?

Conor McGregor was manhandled by Khabib. But he surprised many by lasting on the ground for much longer than anticipated. The general school of thought was, if Conor can stay on his feet, he’ll win … but the second he goes down, he’s going to get annihilated. However, he managed to fair pretty well on the ground, keeping himself out of vulnerable positions until reset and even managed an escape or two before the inevitable Khabib submission was set.

The Question of a Rematch

According to Joe Rogan and many others, Tony Ferguson will get the next shot at the UFC lightweight title. The best online sportsbooks have lined out Nate Diaz and Khabib to be the favorites for McGregor’s next fight. Completing the trilogy only makes sense, and lets be honest, Ferguson deserves the fight against Nurmagomedov.

Six months after Tony Ferguson blew out his knee by falling down, he puts on a beautiful performance against Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis. We have to give credit to Pettis as well. Broken hand or not, nasal fracture or whatever, the fight was great. But the brass tack of it is the fact that no one seems to be able to stop Ferguson. The same goes for Khabib. So the two need to collide and see who is better.

Will it be McGregor vs. Diaz III?

The probability for the Notorious One’s next fight goes as follows:

● Nurmagomedov +125

● Nate Diaz +188

● Tony Ferguson +250

● Anderson Silva +1100

● George St. Pierre +1100

● Tyron Woodley +1600

● Floyd Mayweather +2800

These odds were taken directly from Betway, so as you can see, despite what all of the UFC insiders say, some of the top sportsbooks are favoring a McGregor-Nurmagomedov rematch, which Diaz as the second most likely possibility. That said, Nurmagomadov is unlikely. Especially since both fighters are temporarily suspended, pending a hearing on December 10th. Then it there is a high probability that Khabib especially, could see a lengthy suspension. Either way, neither of these two will be fighting for a few months.

The rematch would make sense if Khabib were stripped of his title, but Dana White has stated that Khabib Nurmagomedov, absolutely keeps his title. So unless the NAC comes down hard on the Russian, which somehow makes the UFC change their mind about the belt, Tony Ferguson should get his shot in about six months. But what if Khabib gets a year? There might be an interim belt in the mix. As you can see, it’s a moving calculus.

McGregor-Diaz

The first two fights left us wanting more. It was an epic lead-up of trash talking by two of the best in the business. The catch-weight fights didn’t disappoint. Battered and bloody, the much bigger Nate Diaz went to work in the second round. After he took Conor down, a brief ground and pound forced McGregor to give Diaz his back, and that was all she rear-naked-choke wrote.

The second fight was a what some might say, ‘controversial’ decision won by McGregor. The 5 round fight was dominated by Conor until he punched himself out. Then after Diaz weathered the initial storm fight evened up real quick. It was one of the best fights in UFC history; a dog-fight to the core and fans deserve to see the 1-1 series concluded.

If Diaz and McGregor go at it again, can Conor clinch victory? One thing is certain: it will be epic. We’ll have to wait and see.