Grab your popcorn because Conor McGregor is apparently watching Saturday’s main event fight between UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and interim champ Justin Gaethje. McGregor, 32, from Ireland, poked some fun at the UFC 254 card by insinuating it was only a UFC Fight Night card instead of arguably the biggest pay-per-view fight of the year, and that the winner needed to be ready for what comes next.
McGregor posted, “Good luck tonight lads. You know what’s waiting for you after.”
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Good luck tonight lads.
You know what’s waiting for you after. #SkitzoNick
What might come next? Obviously, McGregor is insinuating in the post that he stands ready to fight the winner of UFC 254: Khabib vs. Gaethje, and surely that would be a fight the UFC would be interested in making happen.
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Why McGregor Makes Sense for UFC 254 Winner
McGregor makes at least some sense to be the next opponent for the winner of UFC 254 because he’s the biggest superstar in the sport. Additionally, McGregor is the former champion of the division.
On top of that, McGregor has some history with both Nurmagomedov and Gaethje. The former defeated McGregor via fourth-round submission at UFC 229 in 2018 in the best-selling UFC PPV event ever. The latter was on the shortlist to be McGregor’s next opponent before suddenly getting the chance to fight for the interim title against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 in May as a late-replacement opponent.
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Both have suggested in one way or another that a showdown with McGregor could be on the way after UFC 254, though Nurmagomedov has seemed less enthused about it at times due to the two being bitter rivals.
Regardless, McGregor makes sense as a possibility, and the Irishman seems to think he’ll get the chance.
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McGregor’s Next Fight?
McGregor’s next fight could be against Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier on January 23.
Both men have publicly accepted the fight and the date, but the UFC has yet to announce the contest.
One theory is that McGregor and the UFC might have been waiting for UFC 254 to be over. After all, while both Nurmagomedov and Gaethje would make for good dance partners for McGregor, the latter would seem to be in a position to offer a quick “yes” to the idea of facing McGregor next.
So maybe McGregor wanted to see who emerged as the winner of UFC 254 before signing to fight Poirier.
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However, it also might just be that these things take time and that McGregor fully intends on facing Poirier next no matter what.
In fact, the latter view might be more appropriate. After all, McGregor already accepted the fight and promised to donate $500,000 to Poirier’s charity.
So McGregor could just believe that his victory over Poirier in his next fight is a sure thing and that he would be ready to face the UFC 254 winner just as soon as it was over.
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Conor McGregor: ‘You Know What’s Waiting For You After’