The top ranked UFC lightweight took to social media to propose a time and place for a fight with The Notorious One.
Moments after he was TKO’d in his pro-boxing debut by Floyd Mayweather Jr., Conor McGregor was challenged by one of his long-time UFC rivals.
On instagram, Khabib Nurmagomedov posted a picture of himself alongside McGregor with arms raised in an Octagon. The accompanying caption read “Let’s go” tagging the UFC and Dana White. The post also included a proposed time and place for the potential match-up: UFC 219 on December 30th in Las Vegas, NV.
The 24-0 Dagestani fighter last fought at UFC 205 in November, 2016 - the same card on which McGregor made history by becoming the first fighter ever to claim two concurrent UFC championship belts.
At UFC 205 Nurmagomedov battered Michael Johnson to set up a number one contender fight with fellow lightweight standout Tony Ferguson. However, the Eagle and El Cucuy’s date at UFC 209 was scrapped due to a botched weight-cut on the part of Nurmagomedov.
Since then, Nurmagomedov has kept a relatively low profile, but still maintained his ranking as #1 in the UFC’s lightweight standings. Despite Nurmagomedov inhabiting the traditional number one contender spot for McGregor’s 155lb crown, this month it was announced by Dana White that 2nd ranked Tony Ferguson would face the surging Kevin Lee (7th ranked) for the interim lightweight belt.
In that announcement White floated UFC 216 as the possible show that Ferguson and Lee would compete on. UFC 216 takes place on October 7th in Las Vegas. It’s likely that the UFC will attempt to match-up the winner of this fight with McGregor, should his post-mega-fight comments about returning to the UFC ring true.
However, it would be unwise for either Ferguson or Lee to assume an interim belt would guarantee their path to a money fight with McGregor. After all, the Irishman is on record saying he wants to fight Nurmagomedov next.
