Manager for McGregor and Ferguson says Ferg’s earned shot

Paradigm Sports Management founder Audie Attar manages a large number of top fighters including UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor and Interim Champion Tony Ferguson. Any manager’s job is to meet his client’s goals, which presumably include making as much money as possible. Maximum revenue for McGregor’s next fight is probably boxing again or a trilogy fight with Nate Diaz. Maximum revenue for Ferguson is a unification fight with Conor McGregor. So the math is tough.

However, Conor McGregor has never defended either of his belts, and legitimacy has to be among his goals. And an Interim title merits a unification fight, by definition. Attar appeared recently on Michael Bisping’s Believe You Me podcast (the middleweight champ is another cleint) and discussed representing both McGregor and Ferguson.

The sport is one where they’re gonna compete,” said Attar, as transcribed by Jed Meshew for MMA Fighting. “If you have clients in the same weight class and they’re the top of the division, they’re gonna meet. . . With Tony and Conor, it’s inevitable. You have the lightweight champ and the interim lightweight champ, so that’s a fight that’s naturally gonna happen.

No, I can’t say [who McGregor will fight next]. Here’s what I will tell you, Tony earned a shot at the belt. He won the interim lightweight title. Conor doesn’t shy away from a challenge. The Nate fight does make sense, obviously, because of the trilogy, they never fought at 155, but they both make sense in their own respective way. However, I do believe that when [McGregor and Ferguson] go at it, it will, in my opinion, validate the belt system. It will validate what a championship belt is all about.

McGregor has a clear choice here – he can chase the money, or he can defend his UFC belt for the first time, and unify it. Which he chooses will say a lot about who he is.