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UFC President Dana White expec...

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UFC President Dana White expects McGregor - Khabib rematch

Darren Cleary
Darren Cleary

11:31 2 Jan 2019


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On Wednesday's OTB we asked if people wanted to see McGregor go toe to toe with Nurmagomedov again

 

UFC president Dana White expects a rematch between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov to take place this year.

The Russian beat the Dubliner via submission in their lightweight title fight last October - a brawl after the bout led to suspensions for both fighters.

White says the promotion are eager to arrange a rematch but must first wait until the fighters are cleared by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

“I think a lot of people want to see that fight,” White told TMZ.

“Obviously, again, we still haven’t gone before the Nevada State Athletic Commission. That’s got to happen, and when that does we can figure out how this whole thing plays out.

“Is Max Holloway moving to 155? Tony Ferguson is obviously in the mix, so we gotta see how this thing plays out,” He added.

“Obviously guys are going to have to win. It depends on how long the suspensions are and things like that, but yeah. As long as everything goes right, this fight should happen.”

White hinted that Max Holloway could change weight classes to set up a potential match. He noted that Tony Ferguson was also in contention for a shot at the lightweight title.

From a sporting point of view both would have a stronger claim for a title shot than the recently beaten McGregor.

The UFC will likely make their decision with a financial windfall being their main motivator.

McGregor v Nurmagomedov’s first fight shattered UFC pay per view records with over 2.4 million buys.

More people paid to watch that fight than the previous north American PPV record which was also set by McGregor when he fought Nate Diaz back in 2016, that drew 1.6 million buys.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission has yet to rule on the post-fight brawl. They will meet before the end of the month to decide final sanctions for the fighters and those involved in the chaotic scenes in the immediate aftermath of the bout.  Members of Nurmagomedov's team jumped in the cage and clashed with McGregor.

 


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