The matchup that once seemed foolish is now mere days away as on August 26th Conor McGregor will make his professional boxing debut against arguably the greatest boxer of all time in Floyd Mayweather. The fight has been analyzed and dissected in every which way since it was made official earlier this year, so I will not be going there. What I will discuss is what Conor McGregor potentially does after his fight with Mayweather.
Here are six potential scenarios for Conor McGregor after his mega fight with Floyd.
If He Loses to Mayweather:
The very safe bet is that McGregor comes up short in his fight with one of the greatest to ever do it. Of course he has a punchers chance and he is no scrub when it comes to fighting, however, there are levels to fighting and Floyd is at the highest and McGregor and this point in time is not. So him losing on August 26th is a near certain however not that big of a deal in terms of McGregor’s future. Nobody actually expects him to defeat Mayweather so is there really any shame in him losing? Probably not unless he gets flat lined in seconds to a non-power puncher, which also seems unlikely.
So here are three potential fights for McGregor if he loses to Mayweather…
- Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 3 on December 30th, 2017 for the lightweight title
They have to do part three right? The rivalry with Nate Diaz is what launched McGregor into superstardom. His shocking defeat in March 2016 against a much bigger Diaz only to come back and defeat him at the same weight only a few months later is McGregor’s biggest shining moment in his career. Even bigger than him becoming a two-time division champion (look at the PPV buys).
He has yet to defend a belt in the UFC, so why not make his first title defense the biggest fight in MMA history? Assuming Conor doesn’t sustain a major injury that would keep him out of action for a long time, both men will be available on that date. Diaz has made it clear that he will not fight anybody other than Conor at a certain price. The UFC has had a very shaky 2017, however the possibility of ending the year with the biggest fight ever could undo all of it.
2. Conor McGregor vs. Paulie Malignaggi in 2018
Sometimes things just work themselves out. Conor McGregor is on record saying that no matter the outcome of his fight with Mayweather, he will compete in both boxing and MMA. The recent beef between him and his short-lived sparring partner and former world champion Paulie Malignaggi has created a recipe for a potentially huge fight almost by accident. Last week UFC President Dana White released a short clip of McGregor stunning Paulie with a huge left hand and even knocking him down. This was after Malignaggi insisted that McGregor did not do much to him at all during their sparring session. The bad blood between McGregor and Malignaggi has almost taking the attention over him and Mayweather.
So why not settle it in the ring? Every great fight needs great buildup and this fight would have great buildup. The video of McGregor knocking down Malignaggi could convince boxing fans that this could actually be a competitive match between two well-known fighters who hate each other. And if Conor has a respectable performance against Mayweather, the fight would be even easier to sell.
3. Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov/Tony Ferguson for lightweight title
The third potential option for McGregor is to defend his 155 pound title against the legitimate contender for it. Khabib and Ferguson are still expected to fight for the interim belt later this year so the winner of that fight could be McGregor’s opponent once he returns to MMA. This fight would appeal the most to the traditional MMA fans because this is a legitimate title fight. However this fight may also be the smallest fight in terms of revenue among the three. And we all know Conor loves his money so on the business side, this may be the least-likeliest option.
If He Defeats Mayweather:
I’ll keep this one short because of how unlikely it is.
First off if he were to beat Floyd Mayweather and be the one in 49-1 it would be the biggest upset in sports history. It also would make Conor McGregor the king of combat sports.
So if the impossible did happen, here is what McGregor could do next…
- Rematch with Floyd
If it did happen, a rematch almost 100% would happen, and it would be the biggest event in sports history. It also would make Conor McGregor richer than he ever could have dreamed of.
2. Retirement
Once again, if he beat Floyd Mayweather, he would make so much money in endorsements, movies, etc. that he wouldn’t have to fight again for the rest of his life.
Featured Image via Esther Lin/Showtime
