This should be a cracking fight.
The UFC are resting a lot on Conor McGregor's return bout against Khabib Nurmagomedov breaking records and reestablishing the sport as a pay-per-view draw.
The promotion has not had a 1 million plus PPV since McGregor headlined UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden, and defeated Eddie Alvarez and claimed the lightweight belt. There have been 22 PPVs since that night, in November 2016, and the highest return has been the 875,000 brought in by UFC 217 - Bisping vs. St-Pierre.
UFC president Dana White claims the company, which was sold for $4bn two years ago, is now worth around $7bn. Increased commercial deals have certainly driven the UFC forward but it could certainly do with proving their main cards can still draw PPV buys and hefty gate receipts.
McGregor vs. Nurmagomedov, at October's UFC 229, is expected to challenge for the promotion's most successful ever event. That record stands for UFC 202, when McGregor's rematch against Nate Diaz brought in 1.6m PPV buys.
White has boldly claimed UFC 229 will have 2m buys but we have heard such bombastic proclamations from the UFC supremo before. It will certainly push UFC 202 close and may well leave it far behind. That is what everyone involved is hoping.
McGregor has started to hype up the fight - Barclays Center bus attack aside - and is starting to post insults to the current lightweight champion and his family on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm3bcH3gPFh/?hl=en&taken-by=thenotoriousmma
The UFC can afford to go with a weaker card than they may otherwise assemble for other PPVs due to the high interest in the main event. At present, the next biggest fight on an ever-evolving card is a heavyweight encounter between Derrick Lewis vs. Alexander Volkov.
White and his matchmakers appear to be thinking sensibly about this one. Remember, McGregor will have been out of MMA action for 23 months by the time UFC 229 rolls around and Nurmagomedov has a history of injuries and weight-cut issues.
The smart move is to book another decent lightweight bout on the main card, and draw on one of those fighters if one of the main event stars drops out.
To that end, it is heartening to see
MMA Fighting report that a deal for former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson to fight Anthony Pettis (another ex-155lbs champion) is close to being signed.
Ferguson was supposed to fight Nurmagomedov before a bad knee injury sidelined him. Max Holloway replaced him for UFC 223 but he missed weight - not even making the scales - and al Iaquinta stepped in at late notice.
Pettis has title-winning pedigree too so if either McGregor or Nurmagomedov were to drop out, the UFC can promote either Ferguson or Pettis (it's more likely to be the former) and a title fight can still be held.
As Plan Bs go, Ferguson versus McGregor or Nurmagomedov is a pretty damn exciting one.
