Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White confirmed Conor McGregor is ready to go and wants to compete at Fight Island.
‘The Notorious’ from Ireland made an emphatic Octagon return last January after knocking out Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds in their welterweight clash at UFC 246 to bounce back from a disappointing fourth-round submission defeat to Khabib Nurmagomedov two years ago.
Looking to have a busy fighting schedule this year, McGregor aims to fight at 170 pounds one more time before taking on his Russian in a blockbuster rematch.
The Irishman is currently out of the lightweight title picture, with Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje set for the interim title bout this weekend, but it doesn’t mean the UFC will run out of options for their biggest draw.
White has told ESPN earlier this week that a showdown with Jorge Masvidal for the ‘baddest motherf***er* strap is possible for McGregor’s next bout.
Interesting Option
The outspoken UFC head honcho previously claimed Masvidal is too big for McGregor but he has now changed his tune about their matchup, saying the Irishman could challenge “Gamebred” for the ‘BMF’ title.
“We’ll see how this whole thing plays out. To start speculating down the road now is too soon. Let’s get by these three fights in Flordia and then we’ll figure out what’s next. We’re talking about different possibilities about those guys.”
“The Usman fight is the fight that makes sense. It’s the fight that needs to happen if Masvidal wants a title shot. But yeah, there’s another interesting fight out there for him right now.”
In Shape
In an interview with Bartool Sports, the UFC president revealed ‘The Notorious’ has been asking him about the Fight Island as he sets his sights on returning this June.
“First of all, ‘Fight Island’ is going to be very important in any of these fights that are happening with people from outside the country,” White said.
“He and I were texting. He’s asking me what date can I fight on ‘Fight Island’ and will there be fans. Conor’s asking me, Conor wants to fight.”
But with the upcoming UFC shows set to be held behind closed doors, White said: “It kills me to do a fight with Conor without fans. Kills me. This guy’s doing almost $20million gates.”
“We’re not talking about a specific opponent but he wants to fight. He wants to fight, it sounds like he wants to fight in June and he’s asking if there would be fans there.”
“There would not be fans and the fight would be either mid-June or end of June.”
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Conor McGregor and Jorge Masvidal)