Just when you think there is clarity on Conor McGregor next fight, this happens.
The UFC lightweight division now has a champion and an interim champion.
Tony Ferguson made Kevin Lee tap late in the third round of their UFC 216 headliner in Las Vegas to claim the interim 155lbs strap. 'El Cucuy' is now very much the leading contender to fight McGregor, the champion these past 11 months, next.
Following his victory, Ferguson stared straight down the camera lens and told the Dubliner what's what.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZ-euvWlMUM/?taken-by=sportsjoedotie
In the post-fight press conference, Ferguson went back to a line he has been using for the past six months when discussing McGregor - defend or vacate. 'The Notorious' has, in Cage Warriors and the UFC, won four titles and has yet to defend any of them.
During a recent fan Q&A in Glasgow, McGregor mentioned 10 names when he was asked about his next fight. In no particular order, he responded:
- Floyd Mayweather Jr.
- Nate Diaz
- Paulie Malignaggi
- Tony Ferguson
- Kevin Lee
- Georges St-Pierre
- Max Holloway
- Justin Gaethje
- Eddie Alvarez
- Khabib Nurmagomedov
UFC president
Dana White appeared to settle the matter, after Ferguson's win, when he declared that McGregor would fight the interim champion in a title unification bout. He also claimed the fight could take place before the year is out, most likely at UFC 219 on December 30 in Vegas.
McGregor versus Ferguson to unify the 155lbs belt. We'd happily watch that unfold.
UFC pundit, and former star, Dan Hardy is not so sure. He believes McGregor is more likely to vacate his belt in order to take on Nate Diaz in what would be their trilogy fight.
https://twitter.com/danhardymma/status/916888627380137991
That tweet provoked a strong direction and prompted Hardy to explain he was not saying McGregor was afraid of Ferguson, just that fighting him could lose him the belt and damage his reputation. 'The Outlaw' figures McGregor is more likely to give up his belt and take a final, lucrative payday to finish out his series with Diaz.
https://twitter.com/danhardymma/status/916898616396210177
Hardy is not the only person thinking McGregor would prefer to go back down the Diaz road instead of dicing with Ferguson.
https://twitter.com/Asetrixz/status/916933995509796864
https://twitter.com/underthechin/status/916895595251474432
https://twitter.com/BeastFireTimdog/status/916935181864521728
https://twitter.com/JIR_1997/status/916953173536931840
https://twitter.com/alex_scaffidi/status/916897269881896961
As for McGregor himself, there has not been a comment or social media post since the fight. Ferguson is actually signed to the same management team - Paradigm - as McGregor so negotiating bout agreements should be simple enough.
MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani attempted to get the low-down from McGregor and Ferguson's manager, Audie Attar, after the fight but got a predictable if somewhat vanilla response - 'No comment'.
If December 30 is happening, we should know by the start of November.
