Dana White Fully Expects Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Conor McGregor II To Happen In 2019
Just a few short months after reaffirming the hardcore mixed martial arts’ fans desire for Tony Ferguson to receive his long overdue shot at Khabib Nurmagomedov’s UFC Lightweight Championship, a fight booked – and cancelled – three times in the past, stating:
“Tony had the belt, tweaked his knee, got stripped, (McGregor versus Nurmagomedov) happens. Tony never lost the belt in a fight. Neither did Conor, but Conor actually got the opportunity to fight for the belt. I think Tony deserves the next shot.”
Dana White seems to have changed his tone a bit, now more inclined to see the Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Conor McGregor rematch in 2019. When asked about whether or not we could expect to see that fight this year by TMZ, White responded…
“Obviously, guys are going to have to win, depends on how long the suspensions are but yeah, I mean as long as everything goes right, this fight should happen.”
This doesn’t necessarily mean McGregor/Nurmagomedov is next, because as Dana said in this interview, we’ll have to see how the suspensions play out, and he did throw in that “Guys are going to have to win” comment, possibly implying that he’d book Khabib against Tony, and Conor vs Poirier, or Cowboy, or another ranked Lightweight, and Khabib/Conor would be the “guys” that have to win, but I wouldn’t be so sure about that.
Originally, it seemed that McGregor was fine with not receiving the immediate rematch if White and the UFC matchmakers decided he should have to get another win under his belt at first, but if we connect-the-dots here…
McGregor easily could’ve been leveraging the UFC by teasing a rematch with Floyd Mayweather a few days ago, something I could (unfortunately) see becoming a reality as well. I say unfortunately, because as much as I enjoyed the first fight and spectacle of it all, I’d much rather see “The Notorious” finish out his career in the cage where he’s able to utilize all of the tools that made us fall in love with him in the first place. And if that means we’re going to war with Khabib again, so be it.
I don’t think this comes as a surprise to anybody, at the end of the day, though. Where there’s money to be made, there’s money to be made, and this is the prizefighting business. It’ll be interesting to see how Dana White spins using not only the “horrific” bus attack, but also the “disgraceful” Khabib cage-jump as promotion in the build to this one.
If I got it my way, I’d book Khabib vs Tony and Conor vs Poirier, or Nate Diaz, or Cowboy, and have the winners meet afterwards. I could use a quick break from the hostility of Team McGregor’s war with all of Dagestan where we bring things back to the basics and just focus on the fight itself before diving back in and getting that win back. But as you all know, where Conor goes, I support. No matter what.
So up the McGregors!