As the dust has cleared from UFC 216, we now have a new interim lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson, after his submission victory via triangle choke over Kevin Lee. But it was Ferguson’s post-fight comments about potentially facing Conor McGregor, the lightweight champion that sent shockwaves through the MMA world.
“Where you at, McNuggets, you f-----g piece of s---t?!” He roared. “You’ve gotta defend that belt. Defend or vacate.”
Ever since those comments, rumors have swirled around that Ferguson’s next fight may indeed be against “The Notorious.” Dana White himself has lobbied for the fight to happen sometime this year or even into early next year.
However, there is still a strong possibility that McGregor may take a money fight against Nate Diaz for the third time. They have split the first two fights with Diaz winning the first fight via choke and McGregor the second by majority decision. Naturally fans would assume that there would be a third bout to decide who was the victor between the two.
Here’s why that may be a bad decision.
First off, Conor McGregor, despite how good he is, has not had one title defense since he claimed the lightweight belt against Eddie Alvarez last November. Even when he was the featherweight champion, he hadn’t defended the belt. This has caused much criticism among fans, saying that McGregor runs away from title defenses. If he fights Nate Diaz rather than Tony Ferguson, this may re-enforce the claim that he does. That may come to hurt him later on when fans consider what kind of champion he was compared to Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre, and Demetrious Johnson.
Secondly, Tony Ferguson is the best the lightweight division has to offer in terms of matching up with McGregor and his third-round submission of Kevin Lee proved that. Ferguson is close to what Chris Weidman was to Anderson Silva; a fighter who has a strong wrestling background but can stand up and strike with the best of them. Eighteen of his victories have come half by knockout and half by submission, which shows he is a balanced fighter.
Lastly, it is the kind of championship fight that most UFC fans have been waiting a long time for. Not to discredit the upcoming Cody Garbrandt-TJ Dillishaw fight coming up at UFC 217 on November 4, which is sure to be a titanic grudge match, but the thing that has been lacking in the UFC over the last year or so since the Chris Weidman-Anderson Silva fights is a marquee championship fight. Long gone are the days of the Chuck Liddell-Tito Ortiz and Georges St. Pierre-BJ Penn fights but if this fight can happen, it would be perhaps the biggest championship fight in a long time.
So while not to diss on a third Nate Diaz fight, it would not seem fair to Tony Ferguson because he has earned his shot to face Conor McGregor for the lightweight championship. This fight also would allow McGregor the chance to show how great of a champion he could be with a notable victory over a big-time opponent.