Since Conor McGregor broke his leg at UFC 264, Dana White has been bombarded with questions about his return.
As Conor McGregor recovered from the comfort of his home and vacationed with his family on the extravagance of his yacht, his impending comeback and potential opponent were discussed to death.
Several names were floated as possible replacements for ‘The Notorious One,’ with the Nate Diaz trilogy fight among the frontrunners. McGregor started and rekindled several feuds on social media, including one with Henry Cejudo.
Dana White finally mentioned Michael Chandler as a possible opponent for Conor McGregor in a recent TMZ Sports interview, stating that the fight interests him. The UFC president quickly clarified that nothing is official yet and that they have several options. Chandler, on the other hand, has proven to be explosive in both fighting and self-promotion, making him an ideal opponent for the UFC’s biggest moneymaker. According to White:
“I really like [Michael] Chandler vs. Conor [McGregor] after Chandler’s last fight. There’s plenty of fights to make. I don’t know if that’s the one but we’ll see what the landscape looks like when Conor comes back… I’m just saying after his last interview, his last fight, Conor’s ranked No.8, he’s ranked No.5 – it makes a lot of sense right now.”
Dana White also praised Jiri Prochazka and said he admired Valentina Shevchenko enough to try to book the Amanda Nunes trilogy if that’s what ‘Bullet’ really wants.
According to Chael Sonnen, the UFC has no lamb to slaughter for Conor McGregor
Several MMA personalities, including Joe Rogan, have suggested that Conor McGregor get his feet wet with a “tune-up” fight, even though he has been called out directly by Charles Oliveira.
On the other hand, Chael Sonnen took it upon himself to explain why that is not a likely scenario.
Sonnen stated in one of his Bad Guy Inc. videos that if Conor McGregor were to have a tune-up fight before challenging for the title, the opponent would need to be someone that the Irishman has a good chance of beating. That fighter does not exist in the UFC because McGregor would not fight a non-top-10 opponent, and anyone ranked in the top 10 in lightweight can give the Irish southpaw a run for his money.
“[The relatively weaker opponent in a tune-up fight] is a lamb coming to slaughter and he absolutely understands it and everybody knows it. Within the UFC that human being doesn’t exist. Can we get Conor somebody out of the top 10? No, that’s silly. He’s going to be a main event, he’s going to be on pay-per-view, we’re going to have somebody within the top 10… [Among the top 10] who is it that you believe would be the tune-up fight and once you realize that person doesn’t exist there is no guarantee that he’s gonna go out there and get good work.”
The lightweight division lacks a champion after Charles Oliveira’s belt was stripped following the weight-missing incident at UFC 274. Islam Makhachev has been mentioned as a possible opponent for the Brazilian in a title fight. He may have to go through Beneil Dariush first.
Also Read: Conor McGregor close to returning according to seemingly authentic training clips says Chael Sonnen
