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Conor McGregor on Mayweather, state of UFC lightweight division, ‘rat’ Paulie Malignaggi
Filed under: Featured, News, UFC
Floyd Mayweather isn’t out of Conor McGregor’s system quite yet, but MMA is still on his mind.
The UFC lightweight champion talked about his “Money Fight,” his division’s title picture and took a few shots at former sparring partner Paulie Malignaggi today during a Q&A fan event in Glasgow, Scotland.
McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC, 0-1 boxing) entertained the idea of a rematch with Mayweather (50-0 boxing), telling fans the newly retired boxing kingpin’s spending habits – and tax troubles – might lead to a rematch.
With different training, McGregor boasted, he wouldn’t just win – it would be the easiest fight of his career, Daily Star reporter Chisanga Malata tweeted from the event at the SEC Armadillo auditorium.
The good news, McGregor said, is that he is still counting his money from the mega-event this past month in Las Vegas.
McGregor didn’t rule out a return to the octagon by year’s end, even though UFC President Dana White has already ruled it out.
McGregor’s longtime coach, John Kavanagh, recently predicted “The Notorious” won’t fight until 2018 – and is hopefull he’ll take on Nate Diaz (19-11 MMA, 14-9 UFC) in a rubber match on St. Patrick’s Day.
But according to McGregor, that fight isn’t a lock. Diaz, he said, is likely to “price himself out” of a third fight.
A fight at the year-end UFC 219 would be fine, McGregor said, if he could simply weigh in and throw down, according to Irish Mirror and MMAFighting.com reporter Peter Carroll.
Another rival, former sparring partner Paulie Malignaggi (36-8 boxing), got an invitation to the octagon. McGregor reportedly called the ex-boxing champ – his former sparring partner for Mayweather – “a rat” and told him to “bring his balls” for a showdown in MMA.
Other opponents also beckon. McGregor said he’s looking forward to the upcoming interim lightweight title bout between Tony Ferguson (22-3 MMA, 12-1 UFC) and Kevin Lee (16-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC), which takes place next week at UFC 216, as well as the showdown of “The Ultimate Fighter 26” coaches Justin Gaethje (18-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and ex-champ Eddie Alvarez (28-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC).
McGregor also mentioned the possibility of a fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov (24-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) in Russia, a matchup UFC President Dana White told MMAjunkie months ago was high on the champ’s list.
But in the end, McGregor indicated he would wait how the division shakes out before making a final decision.
“Let me see what these two fools do this weekend,” McGregor said of Ferguson vs. Lee.
For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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