Most would agree that Conor McGregor doesn’t deserve an immediate rematch against Khabib Nurmagomedov.
While he enjoyed a great third round, McGregor was dominated for the vast majority of the main event of UFC 229, a fact which makes the immediate rematch harder to sell than if he had put Nurmagomedov in trouble at any point.
It should be pointed out, however, that McGregor’s pulling power with the UFC gives him something of a carte blanche to call his own shots and he is only interested in one fight right now.
And that’s a second crack at Nurmagomedov.
McGregor’s coach, John Kavanagh, and UFC President, Dana White, have both revealed that ‘The Notorious’ is already crying out for a rematch and that’s the most likely outcome according to Las Vegas odds.
Nurmagomedov might have to be compensated appropriately to be tempted to run it back with McGregor but that’s unlikely to be an issue given the potential pay-per-view buys of a second grudge match following the post-fight melee on Saturday night.
Kavanagh has already admitted where they went wrong in preparation for UFC 229 and McGregor’s camp has since received an interesting offer from a former UFC champion to train for a potential rematch.
Sean Sherk, who was the second person to hold the official UFC lightweight title, has claimed that there is no point in drafting in an Olympic-level freestyle wrestler to training camp and insists that McGregor would be better off enlisting the help of someone like ‘The Muscle Shark’ to prepare for Nurmagomedov.
Sherk wrote on Facebook:
“Not sure if the McGregor/Khabib rematch will take place but if it does hiring a guy like Jordan Burroughs to come out and teach you how to wrestle isn’t the keys to victory. You can’t learn how to out wrestle a guy like Khabib who’s been wrestling since birth in just a matter of weeks just by training with a world champion. It doesn’t work that way.
“The keys to victory for the rematch would be to hire a guy like myself for instance. Who’s fighting style is almost identical to Khabib. I made a career out of using my superior Wrestling ability to outfight opponents in a cage while still remaining three-dimensional. I know how to beat guys like myself. I know what works To stiful takedowns, catch Submission’s on the fly, stop ground and pound from being affective and escapes from bottom based on the same techniques and philosophies that worked on me.
“Mixed martial arts is no longer a game of Style vs style. It’s man versus man, game planning / executing game plans and evolution.
“The best athletes in the world take a loss as an opportunity to learn and evolve.
“I have the experience and credentials to prove it.
“I am for hire!!”
