7 Fights That Make Sense For Conor McGregor if he Extends His UFC Deal

Conor McGregor said this week that he is in talks with the UFC regarding a new deal, and that he intends to compete up to three times in 2024. There are only two fights remaining on his current UFC contract, and one of those fights takes place June 29 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, when the Irishman finally comes to blows with long-time rival Michael Chandler. It is unclear, as of right now, how many bouts will be included in the new extension. However, the former two-weight UFC champion will not be short of suitable opponents.

We detail, in this breakdown, the types of fights and locations that make sense for McGregor, should he extend that contract.

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7. Nate Diaz III

McGregor could renew his rivalry with Diaz, should the iconic fighter return to UFC

McGregor and Diaz’s two-fight rivalry generated 3,150,000 pay-per-views in combined sales to US homes, and produced one of the most iconic moments in mixed martial arts history when the popular Stockton striker beat the Irishman to the floor, and submitted him with a rear-naked choke at UFC 196 in 2016. McGregor settled the score just five months later with a five-round decision win, and thus the rivalry is one win apiece. Though Diaz is currently competing outside the UFC, it would not be out of the realms of possibility for the market-leading combat promotion to bring him back into the fold so that this rivalry could reach it’s necessary conclusion.

6. Holloway II

The rematch could have the BMF title on the line — a belt McGregor covets

Max Holloway is the latest worthy recipient of the BMF title for the way in which he demolished Justin Gaethje via buzzer-beating knockout at the UFC 300 event earlier this year. Holloway, who dropped a loss to McGregor early in his career, now has something unique that the former two-weight UFC champ covets. McGregor has said before that he is uninterested in fighting at featherweight or, indeed, lightweight to challenge for titles. The titles he wants, he said, are BMF, and welterweight. Considering their history, and Holloway’s rapid rise ever since, this could be a banger of a Las Vegas headliner.

5. Paddy Pimblett

McGregor deserves a homecoming fight, and there may be no opponent more fitting than ‘The Baddy’

Pimblett may seem like a wildcard suggestion but he has a raucous fanbase and a magnetic personality. There is also the very real possiblity that McGregor may lose to Michael Chandler in their UFC 303 main event on June 29 in Las Vegas this year. If McGregor is defeated, he’ll need a bounce back opponent and there are few more winnable fights out there for him than Pimblett, particularly when you marry that with the fact this could be a huge event in McGregor’s home town of Dublin — a city he’s not fought in since 2014.

4. Dustin Poirier IV

McGregor feels there is unfinished business against the American fighter

Dustin Poirier has recently ruled out a fourth fight with McGregor, citing his “bad energy” as something he does not need in his Louisiana life. But this is a clear money fight. Poirier fights for the UFC lightweight championship June 1 against Islam Makhachev and, regardless of the result, a fourth fight with McGregor is something that will always be there for him, should he choose yet another money fight. Though McGregor won the first bout in their three-fight series to date, Poirier equaled the scoreline when he finished McGregor with leg kicks on Fight Island, in 2021. Later that same year, McGregor lost once again after disaster struck and he suffered a broken leg. He now wants a chance to equal the scoreline himself.

3. Leon Edwards

Uninterested in the lightweight title, McGregor has designs on challenging for the welterweight crown

This may be the toughest challenge out of them all for McGregor as Leon Edwards is naturally by far a bigger man, and also highly-skilled in that division. But McGregor is not one to shy away from challenges and the opportunity to become crowned a three-weight UFC champion — something nobody has ever done before — is enough motivation for him to take on those tough challenges.

2. Ilia Topuria

The fast-rising fighter is targeting a McGregor bout at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu

Ilia Topuria is one of the UFC’s fastest-rising stars. His ascent is similar to McGregor’s, or Israel Adesanya, and Alex Pereira, as he’s already a champion after only seven fights in the promotion. His greatest win to date is a second-round knockout win over Alexander Volkanovski, and he now has his sights set on McGregor — particularly if it were at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. That stadium, which is home to popular Spanish soccer side Real Madrid CF, can fit 85,000 people for a soccer match — likely closer to 95,000 for a UFC show. The atmosphere for a fight between Topuria, if he keeps on winning, and McGregor, could be unparalled.

1. Islam Makhachev

The chance to get a win over Khabib Nurmagomedov’s protege-turned-champion could be impossible for McGregor to resist

Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor engaged in one of the fiercest rivalries of all combat sports in the build-up to, during, and then after, their UFC 229 main event in which the Dagestan wrestler won by fourth-round submission. Though McGregor lost by finish, he did one thing that many others have failed to do against Nurmagomedov — win a round. Nurmagomedov may be retired, with a flawless record of 29-0, but McGregor continues to chirp about him. One way to possibly even the score is to score a win over Nurmagomedov’s protege turned champion Islam Makhachev. And there could be no better place to do so than a UFC pay-per-view in Saudi Arabia — where Makhachev will, in effect, enjoy a home crowd.

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