Conor McGregor is expected to face arch-rival Nate Diaz or UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson in his return to the octagon
Many have accepted that McGregor’s opponent for his first title defense is essentially a two-horse race.
10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu founder Eddie Bravo, who recently awarded Ferguson his black belt, claims that McGregor wants none of what “El Cucuy” takes to the cage. In a recent episode of the Talking Brawls podcast, Bravo opened up on what the fight would mean to his student and why McGregor may be avoiding him:
“It has to be Conor [McGregor]. It has to be. I mean, it’s either Conor or vacate. You need to defend or vacate, that’s what it’s all about. […] Think about where [Tony Ferguson]’s at right now. He’s got the belt. It’s the interim belt but he’s got the belt. It doesn’t look like Conor wants any part of Tony. It doesn’t sound like he’s interested in him at all. He’s never been interested in Tony because he knows Tony’s mind. He knows that Tony can’t be broken mentally. Who better to coach Tony than himself? That’s the way I look at it. It seems like he doesn’t because he’s not calling him out. He’s not responding. So, I can only assume that that means he’s not that interested.
“That’s the biggest fight right now: Tony [versus] Conor. Tony’s already proven himself. He’s one of the top guys in the world. He’s already proven himself. What’s a bigger fight than that? Khabib [Nurmagomedov] and Conor that’s big too. I think Tony’s bigger than Khabib. He’s got the belt, that’s bigger. Who else? Nate Diaz. That’s a great fight, that’s a trilogy. That could happen. That’s huge too, but I don’t know if it’s bigger than Tony [versus] Conor. No, no [I haven’t heard anything from the UFC]. Not at all. Nothing. [Ferguson’s] heard nothing. He’s already training, back working on his stand-up. He knows it ain’t over yet. Whoever it is that’s going to step up next, whether is Khabib or Conor, Man, it’s going to be one hell of a fight.” (transcription via BJPenn.com)
