Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 2 went down, with McGregor winning via majority decision. It was a fun fight, and it was a hugely important fight, and it begs the question “what comes next?”
I don’t know, but here are five strong possibilities for Conor McGregor’s next fight:
Nate Diaz
A trilogy is a real possibility. Photo by Sherdog.
Dana White has been telling fans for a long time now that there’s absolutely, positively no way that Conor McGregor’s fighting Nate Diaz for a third time. His next fight is against Jose Aldo, shut up, stop asking. As we all know, however, Dana White is a big, fat, stinking liar. Dana has absolutely no control over McGregor (as we saw with UFC 200, where McGregor refused to show up to press events for free) and if he really wanted to, McGregor would be able to force the UFC into making a Diaz vs. McGregor 3.
And that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad idea, either! UFC 196 was a massive event, and so was UFC 202. Fans my say they’re tired of the feud and would like to see new things…but I’d still tune in.
Jose Aldo
Dana White badly wants to see Conor vs. Aldo 2. Photo by Sherdog.
Dana may not have any control over Conor, and he may be a big fat liar, but that doesn’t mean that the fight won’t happen. From a logical standpoint, McGregor vs. Aldo 2 is the best option available for both men. Aldo is the interim featherweight champion and McGregor is the real featherweight champion. That should lead to a title unification bout at first opportunity.
The one big hangup for that fight is McGregor’s weight. He packed on a lot of muscle for his welterweight fight with Diaz, and that could prevent him from dropping down to 145 again. If he can, though, this one would do good business.
Eddie Alvarez
Conor vs. Lightweight Champ Eddie Alvarez would be a great fight. Photo by Sherdog.
The original UFC 196 main event wasn’t supposed to be Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz. It was supposed to be Rafael dos Anjos vs. Conor McGregor. McGregor, you see, wanted to become the first ever fighter to hold two UFC titles at the same time and while that would fall apart when he was injured in training (which led to Diaz’s stepping into UFC 196), it hasn’t changed the logic behind the matchup.
Even after six months of fights, there aren’t any new, good opponents there for Conor at 145 pounds. Now that he’s beaten Diaz, he’s basically in the exact same spot he was entering his lightweight title fight at UFC 196. So why not book him in a lightweight title fight again, against new champion Eddie Alvarez?
Georges St-Pierre
GSP vs. Conor would do lots of money…and that’s all that matters, right? Photo by Sherdog.
This one is kind of out there, but it’s also one that makes a lot of sense when you sit down and think about it. Georges St-Pierre is coming back for a fight. He’s talking with new welterweight champion Tyron Woodley about it, but it’s not because GSP wants the title back…he just wants the biggest fight available, and that happens to be Woodley right now.
With McGregor’s schedule now open, however, he falls into the “biggest fight available” spot…and not by a little. A GSP vs. McGregor fight would do massive revenue an, ultimately, that counts for a lot.
Floyd Mayweather
Could we see more superfights? Co-Promotion? Other stuff? Who knows?! Photo by Conor on Twitter.
You all know the drill on this by now. Conor wants it. Floyd wants it. Dana White doesn’t.
…but Dana White and the Fertittas aren’t in charge anymore, are they? The new owners may have a talk with McGregor and, if they’re game for him taking one mega-fight outside the UFC, we could see this one go down.
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