{"id":27095,"date":"2021-01-25T22:52:44","date_gmt":"2021-01-25T23:52:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=27095"},"modified":"2021-01-26T05:06:07","modified_gmt":"2021-01-26T05:06:07","slug":"mcgregor-camps-audacious-call-for-next-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=27095","title":{"rendered":"McGregor camp's audacious call for next fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Conor McGregor's camp is hoping to secure a trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier<\/a> for the UFC lightweight title in May.<\/p>\n

Despite limping from the arena after Poirier's lower leg assault on Sunday<\/a>, the Irishman's coach John Kavanagh said McGregor is "fine" and suggested the third clash between the two should be for the title, while stating McGregor may "drift off" to boxing if a return bout with the Louisiana native can't be organised before the American summer.<\/p>\n

Speaking to ESPN's Ariel Helwani, Kavanagh said McGregor's main priority is to run it back with Poirier after his fifth MMA defeat.<\/p>\n

"He's already harassing everybody to get the rematch," Kavanagh said. "We would love the rematch. I doubt that Dustin is against that.<\/p>\n

"If we could get the rematch before the summer, that will be amazing. If it's not to be, well, then I guess I don't really know. Maybe he drifts off into boxing."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Speaking at his post-fight press conference, McGregor rejected claims that a hugely anticipated cross-over boxing bout with Manny Pacquiao was now dead in the water. The former two-division champion kept the possibility of fighting the Filipino legend alive, despite most pundits saying his chances are now gone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

UFC boss Dana White placed a gag on McGregor discussing the Pacquiao clash during UFC 257. White was ready to shun the event despite the UFC co-promoting McGregor's fight with Floyd Mayweather in 2017.<\/p>\n

McGregor's loss isn't necessarily a bad thing for the promotion. The KO defeat does devalue their most valuable asset but it also creates a narrative that could force McGregor into re-establishing his dominance in the UFC, rather than face the iconic Pacquiao without runs on the board.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

After such a debilitating loss, most doubt a clash with Pacquaio will materialise but McGregor believes there's still a chance.<\/p>\n

"There are no damn leg kicks in boxing, you know what I mean?" he said post-fight. "I always did want to focus on my MMA career, but I'm also open.<\/p>\n

"I'll just see what happens. I don't know what will happen. That Manny fight was happening. It was as good as done."<\/p>\n

Gambling news website SportsBettingDime.com reports a fight with Pacquiao is well behind a series of MMA fights which could first take place. It has bouts against Nate Diaz and Poirier ahead of a clash with the boxing great, with a Diaz match-up the favourite as McGregor's next opponent.<\/p>\n

Kavanagh is angling for a rematch with Poirier before anything else, and has even called for the trilogy fight to be for the lightweight belt.<\/p>\n

\"Poirier<\/p>\n

"Dustin vs Conor 3 for the belt, in May or something like that; wouldn't that be amazing?" Kavanagh said. "We're 1-1. We gave him the rematch after the first win and I hope he returns the sentiment."<\/p>\n

Kavanagh also said McGregor was a couple of days away from "walking without any hindrance" following Poirier's tactical assault.<\/p>\n

"The leg is OK," Kavanagh said. "There's no serious damage. The peroneal nerve that runs down on that side of the leg, which was kicked a number of times, was completely dead, and then the leg started filling up with blood as well, so he couldn't move on it all.<\/p>\n

"But as of today, he's in good form. He did a very tough workout this morning."<\/p>\n

Poirier sounded receptive to a rematch after the win, yet the UFC may veer away from getting McGregor to fight for the title after a loss, even if it's for a vacant title.<\/p>\n

Khabib Nurmagomedov is currently listed as the UFC lightweight champ but the odds are he will remain retired.<\/p>\n

How White handles the title picture in the lightweight division is anyone's guess, although Poirier will almost certainly be part of the conversation<\/p>\n

Speaking after UFC 257, the UFC president indicated Poirier's next opponent could be Michael Chandler, who knocked out Dan Hooker in his UFC debut on Sunday's undercard.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Conor McGregor's camp is hoping to secure a trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier for the UFC lightweight title in May. Despite limping from the arena […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27095"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27095"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27097,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27095\/revisions\/27097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}