If Conor McGregor is willing to make his return to action against Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone, then Dana White is happy to consider that as a potential fight for 2019.
That’s the word from the UFC president following the first ever event on ESPN on Saturday night where Cerrone returned to the lightweight division, dismantled upstart contender Alexander Hernandez and then called out McGregor for his next fight.
Just minutes after that happened, McGregor responded via Twitter saying that he liked Cerrone’s performance and added ‘I’ll fight you’.
Now obviously the fighters aren’t the UFC matchmakers but White says if that’s the fight McGregor and Cerrone want and the fans are behind it, he’ll definitely consider making it happen this year.
“If those guys want that and the fans want to see it, that’s what I do,” White said at the post fight press conference. “We’ll see what happens.
“Don’t run out there and say that’s the fight I’m making. I don’t know what I’m going to do but I like the fact that two of these guys that are complete dogs and willing to fight anybody want to fight each other. That’s fun.”
Cerrone has talked about facing McGregor for the past couple of months as he prepared to make his return to the lightweight division.
Almost immediately after his last win at welterweight against Mike Perry, Cerrone mentioned the possibility of fighting McGregor as he prepared to go back to his old stomping ground at 155 pounds.
Meanwhile, McGregor has been anxiously awaiting word on his next fight after suffering a fourth round submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov last October.
While rumors of a potential rematch are still swirling, McGregor seems more than willing to take on somebody like ‘Cowboy’ to earn his way back into title contention as well.
Before any matchup can be made with McGregor, he has to go before the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Jan. 29 to sort out any potential punishment for his role in a post fight brawl that broke out following his loss to Nurmagomedov at UFC 229.
Do you think Conor McGregor should face Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone next? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
