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What’s really at stake – for the fighters, the fans, and the UFC – when Conor McGregor meets Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 this Saturday night? Retired UFC and WEC fighter Danny Downes joins MMAjunkie columnist Ben Fowlkes to discuss in this week’s Trading Shots.

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Downes: Ben, Conor McGregor makes his return to MMA Saturday when he takes on Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 in Las Vegas. I’m sure everyone will make a healthy profit this weekend, but this fight isn’t another moneyweight cash grab. It’s a title fight between the two best lightweights in world.

Besides determining who is the undisputed champion, what else is at stake? Does McGregor need this win to cement his legacy? Would beating Nurmagomedov be the biggest win of his career, or will people already discredit the accomplishment before McGregor can open the bottle of Proper No. Twelve to celebrate?

Fowlkes: It is weird how, between the usual McGregor hype and the heated geo-political trash talk, you can almost lose sight of what this fight is really for. It’s not just about the rivalry between the two teams or the never-ending quest to grab more of that sweet, sweet money – this is the rare megafight that also feels like it’s the most reasonable and rational way to determine the best in the world at 155 pounds.

But, because this is McGregor we’re talking about, the stakes can never be that simple.

If the Irishman returns from his boxing walkabout and becomes the first person to put a loss on Nurmagomedov’s professional record, yeah, that’s the biggest win of his career. It also cements him as not just a great cash cow or bankable superstar, but also just a great MMA fighter.

What if he loses, though? Is that the point where the revisionist historian that lives in all MMA fans will come creeping out to discredit his entire career? Is it the point where his star power dims? Will it increase or decrease the chances that we see him back in the UFC cage soon?

Because, given how tied up McGregor is with the ubiquitous questions of the UFC’s financial future, it seems like no fight of his can simply be about what it’s about. Not even when it’s about an awful lot on its own.

Downes: Of course people will come out and say McGregor was never that good. Have you ever been on the Internet before? In the time between Holly Holm’s head kick landing and Ronda Rousey’s body hitting the canvas, there were probably a million comic book guys and/or girls starting to type, “Worst champ ever.”

I don’t think McGregor’s star will diminish greatly. He survived the Nate Diaz loss. He survived getting totally outclassed by Floyd Mayweather. So far he’s even survived his own self-sabotage. If Nurmagomedov mauls him for 25 minutes, perhaps his brand will suffer, but I bet McGregor would find a way to keep himself in the spotlight. Maybe he’ll be the one to smack Logan Paul around instead of Sage Northcutt.

“Mystic Mac” will be fine. The UFC, on the other hand, can’t afford a drop in the Conor McGregor business.

He’s the only reliable star around right now. Daniel Cormier only has a couple more fights in him. Brock Lesnar shows up once every couple years for a cash grab. And Jon Jones … well who knows what’s ever going on with Jon Jones.

McGregor can be a wild card, but he’s the most stable money-maker on the roster. Nurmagomedov doesn’t exactly exude charisma.

Perhaps the new ESPN deal means the UFC isn’t as reliant on the McGregors of the world to operate at a profit. A McGregor fight delivers much more than pay-per-view buys. He brings excitement.

We watch MMA every week. You talk about it on a podcast for more than an hour (almost) every week. Some weeks have more going on than others, but nothing compares to a McGregor fight week. How much do fans need him? Besides the clicks, how much do you want McGregor around?

Fowlkes: No doubt about it, he’s good copy. It’s not just that McGregor stories click really well, it’s also that he’s just plain fun to write and talk about.

Who else is going to show up in a fancy suit with his own brand of whiskey in hand, yelling about the history of Dagestan while also sprinkling in a “deez nuts” joke or two?

He’s everything you want a superstar fighter to be, this larger-than-life character who seems right on the verge of being totally out of control while still being totally impossible to ignore. Of course this sport is bound to be more exciting with him around (even when that excitement takes the form of maniacal terror).

That said, I think we’re all kidding ourselves if we claim to know where this train is headed. If McGregor wins on Saturday, it may be the last we see of him in MMA for years. Or, who knows, he might be back in action by New Year’s. A loss might make him look like a falling star, or it might guarantee a swift return in search of redemption.

All I know for sure is that, if I were the UFC right now, I’d be doing a little more to make sure that I get what I can out of this guy while I’ve got him. Something this good might sell itself, but it won’t last forever.

For more on UFC 229, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

Ben Fowlkes is MMAjunkie and USA TODAY’s MMA columnist. Danny Downes, a retired UFC and WEC fighter, is an MMAjunkie contributor who has also written for UFC.com and UFC 360. Follow them on twitter at @benfowlkesMMA and @dannyboydownes.