With the return of Conor McGregor shortly, much has been talked about who could face the Irish this year.
A McGregor would like a rematch with UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, who ended former champion at UFC 229 on the largest in the history of the organization fight.
But he is likely to face someone else in his return. A fight with Donald Cerrone was rumored this summer, but the Irishman revealed new names.
In a question session in Chicago to promote his brand of Whiskey, he talked about the possibility of Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway.
“On the other hand, if you beat a man convincingly, a KO in the first round, a dominant fight, there’s no need for a rematch,” McGregor said. “But, if that person goes up, he comes back, stays focused, stays positive and gets up like Dustin Poirier did, and exactly like Max Holloway did, well, then they’re deserved rematches.”
McGregor has victories between both athletes, Max defeated him by unanimous decision in 2013 and Dustin in 2014 by TKO in the first round. Holloway is scheduled to fight for the interim lightweight belt to face Poirier at UFC 236.
Former namesake featherweight champion Jose Aldo, whom he knocked out in only 13 seconds at UFC 194. McGregor believes that with the winning streak he has, with KO against Jeremy Stephens and Renato Carneiro, could have your second chance.
Conor was willing to fight with Aldo at UFC 237 but he did not accept because they tried to place him as the co-main event on the card.
“Even Aldo now that today, he had a great victory, his last two fights were great,” he said. “He had a little trip, but he won his next two fights and he’s going to fight in Rio de Janeiro. In fact, I was thinking about facing it, but this whole stellar or co-stellar conversation stopped me. If he wins, I think he would also be on the list for a rematch. Although with the 12-second knockout, I still think that if you get up again, you deserve a rematch. So, this is where we are.
At the end of the day, all those fights make sense. McGregor spoke of the possibility of facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. again. But many fans want to see “The Notorious” against Holloway, Poirier, and Aldo.
If everything happens the way we think, McGregor could face the winner of Holloway vs. Poirier in July and if he wins he will have the chance of a rematch with Khabib later this year.
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