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A new opponent has emerged to potentially become Conor McGregor’s next UFC opponent after negotiations seem to have stalled with Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier. The latest possibility is that McGregor might take on Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson in what would be a long-awaited battle between top 155-pound superstars.
Ferguson told ESPN he was ready to step into either open main event slot for the upcoming UFC 255 or UFC 256 pay-per-view cards.
Ferguson said:
“I’m ready for five rounds. I hear that they’re needing a main event…There’s one in November and one in December. My agent said we’re fine to fight, but we want to discuss the pay because the opponent changed. I already told the UFC I was in, I’m good with the fights, so let’s make it happen.”
UFC 255 is scheduled for November 21.
UFC 256 is scheduled for December 12.
The latter date is of particular interest as McGregor’s longtime coach John Kavanagh teased the idea of something happening on that date via social media after Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns was scrapped as the main event for UFC 256.
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Ferguson: ‘Opponent Changed’
Ferguson was originally slated to face Poirier at UFC 254 on October 24 in Abu Dhabi. But that fight fell off the card after Poirier asked for more money than the UFC was willing to pay, so Ferguson’s UFC 254 fight was scrapped completely.
Ferguson told ESPN the opponent options for his next fight at UFC 255 or UFC 256 have “changed” so it’s safe to assume that Ferguson vs. Poirier is still probably off the table for November or December.
That would open the door for Ferguson to potentially fight McGregor or maybe even recently signed three-time Bellator champion Michael Chandler.
McGregor was recently offered the chance to face Poirier in his next UFC fight, but nothing was announced after things seemed to be heading in that direction.
Chandler is serving as the back-up fighter for the main event battle at UFC 254 between UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje. If either of those fighters can’t compete at UFC 254 on October 24, Chandler stands ready to step into the main event.
‘The Diamond’ Expects Announcement Soon
Adding intrigue to the situation is that Poirier indicated via social media on Tuesday that he expected his next fight to be announced soon.
In relatively recent social media history, Poirier has usually used the term “blood” to indicate when he believes he’s on his way to facing Ferguson.
That would suggest he’s not headed into a UFC fight against McGregor as originally offered by the UFC and probably also not going to participate in McGregor’s planned MMA sparring match.
There seem to be lots of 155-pound superstar irons in the fire right now in the UFC.
McGregor, Ferguson, Poirier and Chandler all need UFC fights, and any of them could end up fighting the other at this point as things heat up to find the next slate of elite fights in the lightweight division.
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