Getty Conor McGregor, Justin Gaethje and Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury
The summer should have two of the biggest fights of the year, if ESPN’s Ariel Helwani gets his way. It’s an exciting time for the combat sporting world right now. Tyson “Gypsy King” Fury and Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder finally rematched on February 22, with Fury winning by seventh-round TKO. However, The Bronze Bomber has made it clear that he will be enacting the rematch clause in his contract, setting up the trilogy. It has been revealed by boxing promoter Bob Arum that the bout is linked to July 18 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
On the MMA side of things, the biggest star in the sport, Conor “Notorious” McGregor, returned to the Octagon on January 18 and dominated his opponent Donald Cerrone, winning in only 40 seconds. One of the biggest questions in MMA right now is who is Notorious’ next opponent, and when they will fight.
Today, Ariel Helwani discussed an idea on his MMA Show. He reported last week that Justin “The Highlight” Gaethje was the front-runner for McGregor’s next opponent, and that they have begun preliminary talks. And after a TMZ interview with The Highlight’s manager was released, it seems like Gaethje is on board. Gaethje has been calling McGregor out for a long time, and was recently featured in a video telling Notorious to take the fight with him.
If Gaethje vs. McGregor does come to fruition, one date makes a lot of sense to Helwani.
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Helwani Wants Conor McGregor vs. Justin Gaethje on July 11, a Week Before Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder
If McGregor and Gaethje are scheduled to fight, Helwani believes that the fight card that makes the most sense is the International Fight Week PPV card on July 11. UFC’s International Fight Week always takes place in early July in Las Vegas, and it includes a fan expo and at least one fight card that weekend. And typically the July card is one of the biggest fights of the year.
Another appealing reason to have Notorious fight on July 11 is the likely chance that Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder will be fighting a week later in Las Vegas. July 11 to 18 could be one of the biggest fight weeks ever.
On the Jim Rome Show, UFC president Dana White told the journalist that a welterweight title fight between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal was in the works to headline that card, however nothing has been announced. Helwani argues that the fight between the two welterweights could be bumped to another card to make room for the UFC’s biggest star, McGregor.
Dana White recently told TMZ that although he wants McGregor to fight UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov next, Notorious may not want to wait that long. Nurmagomedov is defending his title against Tony Ferguson in April at UFC 249, and should he get past the difficult challenge of Ferguson, he wouldn’t likely be ready to fight again until the fall.
McGregor has made it quite clear that he wants an active year in the Octagon, so waiting around for the potential of fighting Nurmagomedov may not make sense to the Irishman.
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