Coach: With Donald Cerrone Win, Conor McGregor Could Fight Jorge Masvidal Next
Conor McGregor is set to make his return to the Octagon next month. The Irishman headlines the UFC 246 pay-per-view (PPV) event from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 18, 2020, against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.
Speaking to MMA Fighting’s “Eurobash” podcast recently, McGregor’s striking coach, Owen Roddy, was asked about McGregor’s 2020 plans. It was suggested earlier this year that McGregor has three fights planned for 2020. His fight with Cerrone, a fight with the winner of the BMF Title fight between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz, which Masvidal won, and then a rematch with lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
However, UFC president Dana White has recently come out and said that, if McGregor beats Cerrone, and Nurmagomedov beats Tony Ferguson in April, a rematch between McGregor and Nurmagomedov could possibly happen. Roddy notes that, as far as he knows, McGregor’s plan to fight the BMF Champ remains the same.
“That’s the plan,” Roddy said. “That’s what he wants to do and there’s one thing I always say: when Conor says he wants to do something, if anyone is going to do it, he can. But, let’s not look past Cerrone. He’s a tricky opponent and he’s a veteran with tricks up his sleeve. But Conor going in there the way he looks now, he should do well.”
McGregor will be fighting at welterweight, a division in which his record sits at 1-1 after his two bouts with Nate Diaz. However, Roddy says McGregor has been at this weight for quite some time now, and his body has become accustomed to operating at it.
Looking at the second fight with Nate Diaz fight, that’s what you’re going to see,” Roddy said. “It’s that Conor. He’s been at this weight for awhile. He’s used to training at this weight; grappling and sparring, running and doing the miles. His body knows how to move that weight around now and he knows how to move it around quickly.
“There’s no killing himself to make weight and there’s no limit calories in the last three weeks of camp trying to get down to weight…that’s gone. Now, he’s just focusing on his training, doing what he’s doing, looking at his opponent and breaking him down and dismantling him in the fight.”
What do you think about a potential fight between Masvidal and McGregor next?
