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Despite suffering two devastating losses to Dustin Poirier this year – as well as a severe leg injury in their most recent bout – UFC superstar Conor McGregor doesn’t appear to be done with MMA just yet.
Conor McGregor has shown that he’s determined to return to the UFC and get back to the top of the mountain, but upon his return, who should he face off with in the octagon?
One potential opponent for Conor McGregor might be Tony Ferguson. The former interim UFC lightweight champion has already clashed with ‘The Notorious’ on social media, and would clearly be down to lock horns with the Irishman.
So should the UFC book this fight? While there are other options for Conor McGregor, a fight with Tony Ferguson would genuinely be a great piece of matchmaking.
Here are five reasons why Conor McGregor should face Tony Ferguson in his next UFC fight.
#5. Conor McGregor already has a rivalry of sorts with Tony Ferguson
While their rivalry is not as storied as Conor McGregor’s feuds with Nate Diaz or Khabib Nurmagomedov, ‘The Notorious’ does have an existing beef with Tony Ferguson, and it’s a beef that goes back quite a few years.
If we’re honest, the dislike between the two is probably stronger from Ferguson’s perspective than it is from McGregor’s, and it’s easy to understand why.
Back in 2017, after ‘The Notorious’ had captured the UFC lightweight title from Eddie Alvarez, Ferguson was widely recognized as the division’s top contender. ‘El Cucuy’ was riding a lengthy nine-fight win streak at the time and looked practically unstoppable.
However, he couldn’t pin Conor McGregor down for a title fight, despite his calls for the Irishman to “defend or vacate”.
In the end, McGregor departed the UFC to pursue a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, leaving Ferguson to take on Kevin Lee for the interim UFC lightweight title in late 2017.
However, by the time ‘The Notorious’ returned, Khabib Nurmagomedov had become the division’s champion, meaning a McGregor vs. Ferguson fight was put on the backburner.
Ferguson has never really forgotten this, and as recently as last month, has continued to call Conor McGregor out for a fight.
It’s an easy and obvious rivalry for the UFC to capitalize on, hence, they should look to book the fight soon.
#4. A fight between Conor McGregor and Tony Ferguson would pique the interest of the fans
Conor McGregor is still the UFC’s biggest star and most powerful drawing card, and so it stands to reason that fans of the promotion would probably be willing to part with their money to see ‘The Notorious’ fight anyone.
However, if the UFC want to book a Conor McGregor fight that’s really going to move the needle, they could do much worse than matching him up with Tony Ferguson.
It’s true that ‘El Cucuy’ isn’t a mainstream draw in the way that McGregor is, and in fact, he doesn’t hold the same profile as Nate Diaz or Khabib Nurmagomedov did before their fights with ‘The Notorious’.
To say that Ferguson is an unknown, though, would be very unfair. ‘El Cucuy’ has headlined numerous UFC events since his debut with the promotion in 2011, and his wild and exciting fighting style makes him one of the most recognizable lightweights on the roster.
If anything, it’s arguable that Ferguson is on the same level of stardom – probably what you’d consider the “second tier” – that Dustin Poirier and Donald Cerrone both possessed prior to their recent fights with McGregor.
Would a McGregor vs. Ferguson fight break the UFC’s buyrate record? Probably not, but it’d certainly pique the interest of fans, particularly those who wanted to see the two face off back in 2017.
That alone makes it a fight worth booking.
#3. A win over Tony Ferguson would move Conor McGregor back into UFC title contention
It’s no secret that Conor McGregor’s ultimate goal is to regain the UFC lightweight title that he never lost inside the octagon.
Right now, though, after his two losses to Dustin Poirier, that idea feels like a pipe dream. Incredibly though, for a fighter of McGregor’s stature, one big win might be all it takes to move him back into contention.
Could that one big win come against Tony Ferguson? It’s definitely possible.
Admittedly, ‘El Cucuy’ isn’t quite the same fighter that he once was, and his slide down the rankings demonstrates that. Following his losses to Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush, Ferguson is ranked as the #7 lightweight in the UFC.
However, that still puts him two spots above the #9 ranked Conor McGregor, meaning that a win over him would propel ‘The Notorious’ at least a couple of spots up the ladder.
And while it wouldn’t propel him all the way up to the top of the rankings, a win over a top ten opponent alone would almost definitely put him in line for a title eliminator bout thanks to his star power alone.
Essentially, any run for Conor McGregor back into title contention would have to start somewhere, and Tony Ferguson could be the perfect starting point for him.
#2. A fight between Conor McGregor and Tony Ferguson could be awesome to watch
Perhaps the biggest reason to book a fight between Conor McGregor and Tony Ferguson right now would be that it’d probably produce absolute fireworks inside the octagon.
Over the past decade, there have been just a handful of fighters whose style is as exciting as that of Ferguson, across all divisions.
Aggressive to a fault, ‘El Cucuy’ always comes to push the pace, and his brand of combination striking and dangerous submissions have allowed him to finish a number of high-level opponents.
Fighters as great as Anthony Pettis, Edson Barboza and Rafael Dos Anjos all found themselves wilting under the pressure Ferguson put on them.
However, Conor McGregor is equally as exciting to watch, with his style inside the octagon being one of the reasons why he rose to superstardom so quickly.
‘The Notorious’ always talked a good game, but had he been unable to back it up with performances like his knockouts of Jose Aldo and Eddie Alvarez, it’s unlikely that he’d have reached the levels he has done.
A fight between Conor McGregor and Tony Ferguson would likely see both men look to strike. They’d probably come out with an idea of making the other man back down and eventually break – and so UFC fans would probably expect some serious violence ensuing.
Who would win? It’s tricky to say, but with both men having their backs to the wall after a string of losses, it’d definitely be a fascinating – and potentially awesome – fight to watch.
#1. Tony Ferguson looks like a potentially beatable opponent for Conor McGregor
The truth is that even if the UFC wanted to book a fight between Conor McGregor and Tony Ferguson, due to McGregor’s negotiating power they may not be able to do so unless ‘The Notorious’ were up for it.
We know that Ferguson would fight McGregor in a heartbeat, but would the Irishman want to face ‘El Cucuy’?
If this were eighteen months ago, the likely answer would’ve been no. In early 2020, Tony Ferguson was seen as second only to Khabib Nurmagomedov in the UFC’s lightweight division.
He was riding a 12-fight win streak and looked like the terminator, an unstoppable killing machine in his wins against the likes of Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone.
Earlier in his career, Conor McGregor backed down from no man, but it’s definitely fair to say that he’s more selective with his opponents these days, and may not have wanted to fight Ferguson in his prime.
However, today’s ‘El Cucuy’ is not the same man who wreaked havoc over the UFC’s lightweight division. After his loss to Justin Gaethje – a fight that appeared to have damaged him irreparably – he’s since lost to Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush. In both losses, he looked like a shadow of his former self.
The truth is that right now might be the best time to fight Tony Ferguson. He’s now 37 years old, and after a career filled with crazy wars, may be reaching the end of his time in the UFC.
A win over him may still be enough to elevate someone like Conor McGregor back up the ladder – but fighting him at this stage is nowhere near as dangerous as it would’ve been eighteen months ago.
That means that there’s a much bigger chance that it’s an attractive fight for ‘The Notorious’ – making it much easier for the UFC to book.
