Fresh off Conor McGregor’s landmark defeat of Eddie Alvarez to capture the UFC 155lb championship, his coach, John Kavanagh, feels the trilogy fight with Nate Diaz would make the most sense for his next fight.
As champion of the UFC featherweight and lightweight divisions, ‘The Notorious’ has plenty of options for his next fight in the Octagon. At 145lb there is the unification bout with José Aldo and at 155lb there are even more options including Khabib Nurmagomedov, Tony Ferguson and the only guy to beat him in the UFC, Nate Diaz.
Speaking on this week’s episode of The MMA Hour, John Kavanagh gave his insight into the lay of the land and believes the third fight with Stockton, California’s Diaz would generate the most interest.
“Now, I’m going to give you my full opinion,” Kavanagh said. “I think the second best 145lb’er is Max Holloway, in my opinion. And I think the second best 155lb’er is Nate Diaz. That’s my opinion.
“I think Nate would beat either Tony or Khabib. I think he really turned a corner with the Michael Johnson fight. I think we saw a new version of him. I think he looked fantastic in both Conor’s fights. That’s my opinion. My small, unimportant opinion. No need to tweet me your own opinions. But that’s who I think the two best guys are.”
Kavanagh acknowledged that Nurmagomedov has done enough to earn his spot as the number one contender in the lightweight division. Having said that he believes there is more demand from the fans to see the third encounter with Nate Diaz.
“Now, I understand Khabib is the number one contender and it’s probably gonna be him if that’s how the company works but for me, interest wise, the Nate fight would interest me greater because of that,” said Kavanagh. “If it’s Tony, if it’s Khabib, great. They are two fantastic fighters.”
