McGregor beat Nate Diaz during the third-highest PPV in MMA’s history. He also earned a pretty sum for his troubles, which makes one question some of the curious comments Dana White has been making about McGregor, not only suggesting that the Irishman risked losing his featherweight if his next fight wasn’t a title defense, but out rightly putting McGregor-Diaz III on the backburner. These are the sorts of interesting feuds that online MMA betting eats up.
At the moment, McGregor’s star power is comparable to that of sporting legends like Michael Jordan, and the sooner Dana White realizes this, the sooner his stare down with McGregor over his next fight will end.
Most analysts agree that McGregor is the face of MMA right now and it would behoove White to let him take charge for the moment, at least with regards to deciding his fight. McGregor’s irritating antics, be it the way he keeps running his mouth or the manner in which he annoys other fighters, is forgivable so long as he keeps delivering as he has been in the sport.
White has to put his many threats of taking the belt away to sleep. So long as he is such a big star, certain concessions will have to be made for McGregor, even if that means letting him skip a media event or two.
Besides, a lightweight match against Eddie Alvarez, a champion vs champion bout, wouldn’t be as interesting if McGregor was stripped of his belt beforehand. McGregor is a megastar at the moment, having given the UFC its best-selling pay-per-view in the last nine months.
Let him choose his next opponent. He deserves that much. If he had his way, McGregor would probably take his chances with Eddie Alvarez. The opportunity to wear that second belt is simply too enticing.
The UFC intends to address the McGregor situation in the coming weeks; and, as their top bread winner, the UFC will probably let McGregor have his way. A possible McGregor/Alvarez bout will also probably take center stage during the discussions at UFC headquarters.
McGregor doesn’t seem that interested in killing himself to make weight in an effort to fight bigger guys. He is clearly comfortable at lightweight, and everyone would discourage him from fighting at welterweight. However, stepping up to lightweight to take on Alvarez, who wants a big name, shouldn’t present much of a challenge.
At the moment, McGregor has made his home at 155 pounds, and he is probably looking for an opportunity to take on Alvarez who made some disparaging remarks about his supposedly sloppy abilities in fights that last longer than eight minutes.
For McGregor, anything short of a victory against Diaz would have devastated his stock; everyone exhaled in relief when he came out on top after a grueling match against Diaz, and the fight has only added to his star power.
So long as McGregor keeps winning, his options are going to keep opening up. There has been some talk of McGregor actually taking on boxing legend Floyd Mayweather, and there is no denying the financial gains he would receive as a result, though such a fight is unlikely to happen anytime soon.