What must Tony Ferguson make of all this?
The thing about staying active as an MMA fighter is that it gives you a soap-box to get your demands in, if that sort of self-promotion is your thing.
While many fighters prefer to let their actions speak for them, others have cottoned on to the fact that hyping themselves up and calling out rivals can help you skip the queue. Just look, for example, at the promo Nate Diaz cut for himself after defeating Michael Johnson in December 2015.
“If I was stupid, I wouldn’t have got to where I’m at,” Diaz later recalled after his UFC 196 win over McGregor. “I did what I had to do.”
Tony Ferguson was the man most fight fans wanted to see taking on McGregor after he defeated Kevin Lee to win the UFC interim lightweight belt. That is still the fight that makes the most sense but the winning return of Khabib Nurmagomedov has thrown up another, interesting option.
‘The Eagle’ was a dominant winner over the dangerous Edson Barboza at UFC 219, on December 30. Moments after his unanimous decision victory, he took to the microphone and declared he would happily take on Ferguson or McGregor after just an hours’ rest.
The Dagestani’s comprehensive display of striking, take downs and wrestling, combined with his promo-cutting, ensured he shot to the top of many wishlists for McGregor’s first title defence. The social media war between Nurmagomedov and McGregor, in the past 24 hours, has only increased that interest.
McGregor responded to Nurmagomedov’s boast in the Octagon
Truly truly truly get on your fucking knees and beg me. Otherwise I don't give a bollox.
My whiskey is out this year and thats Diddy bread.— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) January 1, 2018
The reply was a good one
— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) January 1, 2018
But McGregor was never going to let it rest at that
I slaughter your pets and wear them as coats. And I only wear them once. https://t.co/5IMAc3ysgN
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) January 2, 2018
Consider the public on-board with this one.
The pair have spoken openly about each other in the past and they had to be separated before UFC 205 in November 2016:
Few would complain if the UFC were to do a deal and get this fight booked for later this year. Nurmagomedov says he wants to fight three times in 2018 while UFC president Dana White suspects that McGregor, if he does return, would defend his belt in the summer.
So where does this leave Ferguson?
The best option would be to have the interim champ fight Nurmagomedov and the winner getting the pay-day prize of a headliner against ‘The Notorious’.
However, as we have seen in the past, just because it makes sense does not mean it is the way the UFC will go.
