Masvidal vs. McGregor Would Be ‘Interesting’
Conor McGregor returns to action at UFC 246 on January 18 when he faces Donald Cerrone in a welterweight bout. And Jorge Masvidal and his team will be keeping a close eye on the contest.
Talk of a McGregor vs. Masvidal fight has heated up in recent weeks. Although UFC president Dana White was initially reluctant about the idea, he seems more open to it now. More than anything, it says a lot about Masvidal’s increased star power that McGregor is willing to consider fighting him.
After all, “Gamebred” had a huge 2019 following emphatic victories Darren Till, Ben Askren and Nate Diaz. Because of his increase in stock and popularity, Masvidal is looking for the biggest prize fights — that is why McGregor is a prime target.
“I’d say, for him, after this fight with Nate, he’s really good in terms of finances right now,” Masvidal’s manager Abraham Kawa told BJ Penn. “But one thing that’s not gonna change about him is that he’s a prize fighter. He’s a guy that wants the biggest prizes that he can possibly get. You’ve heard him in many, many interviews: I would think that, just based what’s out there right now, we’ve got to wait to see if Conor [McGregor] wins. If Conor wins, I think that’s a fight that would be interesting.”
McGregor has fought at 170 pounds before, but that was over three years ago when he fought Diaz twice. Kawa believes a win for the Irishman over Cerrone would make a Masvidal fight a ‘no-brainer.’
However, things could get interesting if he performs poorly at UFC 246.
“I’m more curious to see what Conor’s body looks like at 170 over anything else because, let’s face it, if Conor goes up to fight ‘Cowboy’ and it’s a terrible fight — and I don’t foresee that happening at all, Conor’s never been in a terrible fight — but if it is a terrible fight, would Conor really be what we want next? I don’t know,” Kawa added. “If Conor goes out there and does what Conor does then I think that’s a no-brainer. If Conor loses, that’s where I think things get interesting.”
Considering McGregor’s drawing power, a win or loss shouldn’t affect his popularity or the money that he brings in. But it certainly wouldn’t be a good look to be on a two-fight losing streak should he not get past Cerrone.
