CONOR McGREGOR already appears to have ditched the new nice-guy image and has put himself on a warpath having called out the entire lightweight and welterweight divisions.
It acts as a stark contrast to the humbled Notorious that paid Donald Cerrone and the rest of his UFC colleagues nothing but respect back in January.
Conor McGregoralready appears to have ditched the new nice-guy image having called out the entire lightweight and welterweight division
But after beating Cerrone in just 40 seconds, he watched as Justin Gaethje won the interim lightweight belt against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 and leaped to the front of the queue to face champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
An enraged McGregor took to Twitter to blast Nurmagomedov, call out Gaethje and trash Ferguson as well as Dustin Poirier in the process.
He also revealed he would then move up to welterweight – which came days after he urged old rival Nate Diaz to “sign the contract” leaving five angry UFC fighters on the end of McGregor’s online wrath.
With so many options, what does The Notorious do next?
WAIT FOR KHABIB OR GAETHJE
Despite McGregor predicting Nurmagomedov will “bottle” out of unifying against Gaethje, leaving him to instead face the 33-year-old American in July, UFC boss Dana White plans to have the two belt holders fight as soon as possible.
It means McGregor – who said wanted to be in the cage at least three times this year before his comeback – will have a decision to make on whether he waits for the winner between Khabib or Gaethje or takes a fight in between.
White already promised him a rematch against Nurmagomedov, who beat the Irishman in 2018, meaning he would only need to sit and wait to see who wins the unification before calling out the winner.
But that may not suit the 31-year-old, who has just one UFC win in the last three years.
Another victory for McGregor against a ranked challenger also goes some way for legitimising his run back to a title shot, with Poirier and Ferguson potential options to do so.
But it would come at a risk – because should he lose, then his title shot would effectively be wiped out.
McGregor could wait for the winner between Khabib (left) and Justin Gaethje
STAY AT WELTERWEIGHT FOR DIAZ OR MASVIDAL
The division McGregor fights at is almost irrelevant if it is not for a belt – which explains why he returned at welterweight instead of going through a gruelling weight cut to fight at lightweight.
With the 155lb champion and No1 contender looking otherwise occupied, the time could be right for the Irishman to finally settle the score with Diaz, as the rivals sit one apiece against each other.
Diaz lost to Jorge Masvidal in his last fight after suffering a cut, but White already said a rematch is not on the cards, meaning McGregor is his most profitable and favourable opponent for the American.
But the same can’t be said for ex-featherweight and lightweight champ McGregor.
He could choose to stay at 170lb, where he wants to become the first fighter in UFC history to win titles in three weights, with Masvidal arguably just as big of an opponent.
Masivdal shot to stardom in 2019 with wins agains Darren Till, Ben Askren and Diaz – the last of which for the ‘Baddest Mother F***er’ belt – which McGregor also appears to be chasing.
A welterweight fight against either Diaz or Masvidal may not affect McGregor’s lightweight title pursuit and also sets him up for a mega-money pay day.
McGregor could face either Jorge Masvidal or Nate Diaz at welterweightCredit: Getty
RETURN TO BOXING
If McGregor was to hold out for Nurmagomedov, or a UFC title shot, but does not want to risk losing his momentum with a stand-in fight, returning to boxing is definitely another option for the southpaw.
Despite neglecting to bring in a boxing coach before his ring debut against Floyd Mayweather in 2017, McGregor has since returned to his first ever trainer as the Crumlin amateur club.
He now insists he is more prepared to perform in the ring and before facing Cerrone, he revealed he wants to box again and even said he will even win a world title.
McGregor called for a rematch against Mayweather but is also open to facing Manny Pacquiao, sparring rival Paulie Malignaggi and even retired boxer turned promoter Oscar De La Hoya.
If the Irish star is to remain active but not risk his UFC form taking a dent, make another boxing switch and attempting to improve on his first go inside the ring is a possibility for the 0-1 novice.
And aside from another fight against Nurmagomedov, McGregor’s biggest purse could actually be made back in the boxing ring and would have not shortage of potential stars names to compete in the crossover fight.
Ex-UFC champion McGregor is adamant he will box againCredit: Getty
Justin Gaethje calls out Conor McGregor for Ireland fight, but only after facing Khabib Nurmagomedov following Tony Ferguson win
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
