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'Sugar' Sean O'Malley has addressed reports regarding Conor McGregor and Tony Ferguson potentially serving as rival coaches on the TUF (The Ultimate Fighter) reality show's latest season.
McGregor recently revealed that he's been offered an opportunity to coach in the upcoming TUF season. 'The Notorious' notably coached on TUF 22 in 2015. Meanwhile, Ferguson was a contestant on TUF 13 and won that season's welterweight tournament in 2011.
Former interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson is a longtime rival of former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor and retired MMA great Khabib Nurmagomedov. 'El Cucuy' recently tweeted that he'd like to coach TUF against Nurmagomedov or McGregor.
In the latest edition of The BroMalley Show, UFC bantamweight Sean O'Malley and his brother Daniel O'Malley discussed the McGregor-Ferguson TUF rumors. 'Sugar' referenced Ferguson's current five-fight losing streak and suggested that he doesn't want to see him coach on TUF.
Sean O'Malley clarified that he loves Ferguson. Regardless, he alluded to McGregor's star power and opined that he'd only watch TUF for the Irishman. Furthermore, the O'Malley brothers indicated that McGregor would likely defeat Ferguson at this stage of their respective careers but beating 'El Cucuy' won't benefit him much. 'Sugar' stated:
"Tony's last five fights -- Lost to Nate Diaz, lost to Michael Chandler, lost to Beneil Dariush, lost to Charles Oliveira, lost to Justin Gaethje. But still, like, listen to those -- Justin Gaethje, former champ; Charles Oliveira, former champ; Beneil Dariush, damn near might as well be former champ; Michael Chandler, might as well be a former champ; Nate Diaz, triple champ. He's lost to straight killers, but I don't think you can make him a coach, dude. I just don't think -- with five Ls in a row? It just doesn't sound good."
Watch O'Malley discuss the topic at 8:40 in the video below:
Is a Conor McGregor vs. Tony Ferguson fight imminent in 2023?
As of this time, the UFC hasn't made any official announcement concerning the rumored Conor McGregor vs. Tony Ferguson TUF season. McGregor has been on an injury hiatus since July 2021. The former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion has promised to return this year and possibly compete in the welterweight division.
Conor McGregor's exact comeback date and opponent are yet to be announced. Similarly, Tony Ferguson's future too remains shrouded in mystery. 'The Notorious' has won two and lost three of his past five fights, while Ferguson has lost all five of his recent octagon appearances.
Nevertheless, the consensus is that Tony Ferguson or Michael Chandler could serve as Conor McGregor's opponent in the UFC megastar's comeback fight at welterweight this year. Whether or not that materializes, however, remains to be seen.
