If the much spoken about Dustin Poirier fight does not materialise, fight fans would flock to this bout too.
UFC president Dana White has floated the prospect of Conor McGregor taking on Poirier early next year. The fight would take place around the same time as UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov defended his belt against No.1 contender Tony Ferguson.
That is how White would like to see it, in theory, with the winners of both fights taking each other on for the 155lbs belt in Las Vegas next summer.
The lightweight division has been a moveable feast ever since McGregor entered the fray, however, so until we see these fights officially signed off, we won’t be making any firm travel plans.
UFC commentator Joe Rogan says that if he were a fight promoter, he would book McGregor vs. Diaz III all day long.
“That’ the big money fight,” he said. “If I was a promoter, I’d be calling Nate and saying, ‘What do we have to do?’… Give him what he wants. Give him a lot of money!”
“It’s not just a good fight,” Rogan added. “It’s a gigantic, fan-friendly event.”
If that fight does not happen, and it seems unlikely to be next on the slate, Rogan would be delighted to see McGregor take on Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone.
“How good did Cowboy look against Mike Perry?” he posited. “That is a different Cowboy Cerrone. He looked different; looked smooth. Like a Goddamn executioner.”
On the behind-the-scenes talk about ‘The Notorious’ taking on Cerrone, Rogan commented:
“That’s a fight that I would make. That’s a fight. That’s a f**king great fight and it’s also a big sell. You could sell the shit out of that. That’s a big fight.
“But Cowboy has not been fighting at that weight – 155. He has done the majority of his fights at 170 – Till, Masvidal, Perry, Leon Edwards… but we could still make 155. He’s not a big 170.”
Poirier, Cerrone or Diaz. Three good options but none likely to trouble McGregor as much as Nurmagomedov did back in October.
We’d happily line up and tune in for either three of the fights Rogan touched on.
