Faber Would’ve Accepted McGregor Fight In Dublin

The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 22 debuted last night (September 9, 2015) on FOX Sports 1, and it should be an exciting season with two of the biggest names in mixed martial arts (MMA) in interim featherweight champion Conor McGregor, and former WEC champion Urijah Faber as the coaches.

The tradition of the coaches facing off at the end of the show will go out the window here, however, as McGregor will take on 145-pound king Jose Aldo in a title unifier at UFC 194 in December, while Faber will meet Frankie Saenz on the very same card.

However, that doesn’t mean that the two didn’t want to fight, as the “Notorious” one has previously stated that he asked to fight Faber on a card in his hometown of Dublin next month. Recently speaking on the topic, “The California Kid” claimed that he had also asked for the fight, but it was Dana White who shut the idea down:

“I had lobbied for the fight also,” Faber told Sherdog. “We had both lobbied. There’s actually … I don’t know if they’re going to play it or not – they probably will because it’s great TV – (footage) with us yelling back and forth at each other, but we both tried to get the fight.

“I was going to go over to Ireland, and he wanted to fight over in Ireland also. (UFC president) Dana (White) said, ‘Oh, you’re not going to fight him,’ this and that.”

It’s understandable why White would turn the idea down, as McGregor vs. Aldo is the biggest fight in UFC history, but Faber is confident that he would take out the Irishmen nonetheless. Based on McGregor’s recent bout with Faber’s teammate Chad Mendes, “The California Kid” believes that he would have a significant advantage on the ground:

“”I have the most submissions in the history of our sport, and he’s tapped to a kneebar in a minute-something, and he’s tapped to a choke by someone else, too,” Faber said, before referencing McGregor’s victory over teammate Chad Mendes at UFC 189.

“Chad had him way outclassed on the ground, and that’s all I’ll say.”

Who would you see winning in a bout between McGregor vs. Faber?