Former two division UFC champion Conor McGregor is challenging UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov for the gold in the main event of UFC 229.
If Nurmagomedov were to pull out of this weekends fight for any reason, a confident McGregor would be fine with fighting former UFC Interim Lightweight Champion Tony Ferguson or former UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis.
“I’ve already been mapping out what I want to do next,” McGregor told The Mac Life. “I know Pettis and Ferguson is in the co-main. Originally, about a month or two ago when that fight got announced for the co-main, I was like, ‘Man, if Khabib bottles this fight, like he has bottled many fights before…if he bottles this one I don’t think…you know…f*ck those other two’. No disrespect to those other two…I don’t think I give a f*ck about those other two to step in and [fight]. I think I probably would have just disappeared back into the shadows and got that man [Nurmagomedov] somewhere else outside of here. Now that I’m here, I’m back and I’m close, if he didn’t show up. I think I would take a fight against either of those.”
Ferguson and Pettis are competing in the co-main event of UFC 229, but neither has been named as an official backup if something goes haywire with the main event encounter.
McGregor is focused on UFC 229, but he also has an eye aimed towards the future.
“I’m already mapping out what’s happening next in my head. I know Dustin and Nate [are] competing. I know the 170-pound belt has also just been defended and I know Tyron [Woodley], the current welterweight champion, is itching for that one — like they all f*cking are. I know Georges is test cutting to 155. I know everyone is around looking for it. I’m here, let’s see what happens next,” says McGregor.
UFC 229 takes place on Saturday, October 6 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
