Abraham Kawa, Pettis’s manager, told MMA Junkie that if his client defeats Nate Diaz at UFC 241 on Aug. 21, his next fight should be against McGregor. “I’m looking at it as (if) Anthony beats Nate, and I think Conor is next on the horizon,” Kawa told the site.
McGregor has had a fookin’ hard time booking an opponent. According to reports, he’s been trying to get a rematch against Khabib Nurmagomedov, who he lost to by submission at UFC 229 last October. Both Nurmagomedov and UFC President Dana White have dismissed the idea of a rematch.
“[McGregor] tapped. He begged me, ‘Please don’t kill me,’ you know?” Nurmagomedov said at a recent press conference. “Now he’s talking about a rematch?” The undefeated UFC lightweight champion will face Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi on Sept. 7.
McGregor hasn’t won a bout, including his highly controversial boxing match against Floyd “Money” Mayweather, since 2016. Nurmagomedov said there are many other fighters more deserving of a match against him, but not McGregor.
“People who have win streak on the line,” he said at the press conference. “Not a guy who don’t win nothing last three years, you know?”
Even Kawa doesn’t believe McGregor should get a shot at Nurmagomedov, but added that Pettis would be the perfect fit. “Even Conor fighting Khabib, I don’t think that’s the fight,” he told MMA Junkie. “I actually don’t want to see that fight right now. Maybe after a while, yes. But right now I think Conor vs. Anthony is the fight.”
