The UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) is stacking up the card for UFC 219.
UFC 219 is set to take place on December 30, 2017 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.The main card will air on pay-per-view while the preliminary card will air on FOX Sports 1 and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.
People are still wondering who will be the next challenger for UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor.
One of the most notable managers in MMA is Audie Attar. For those who might not know, his company, Paradigm Sports Management, represents several fighters including former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, current middleweight champion Michael Bisping, McGregor and interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson.
McGregor’s next opponent will be either Ferguson, which makes the most sense as McGregor has yet to make his first title defense as a champion and to unify the titles, or a trilogy fight against his arch-rival Nate Diaz. Both fighters each hold a win over each other. Attar believes that Mcgregor may soon face off against Ferguson.
Attar recently appeared on Bisping’s Believe You Me podcast (transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting) to talk about representing both clients as well as calling their eventual fight “inevitable.”
Ferguson won the interim title at the latest UFC PPV (UFC 216) by scoring a submission win over Kevin Lee with a triangle choke in the third round.
The reason for the interim bout was due to McGregor being unable to fight in the Octagon as he spent this year celebrating the birth of his child and pursuing a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather.
Even though UFC 219 is now just over eight weeks away, UFC President Dana White only recently stated that the promotion is deadset on McGregor headlining the end of year event.
‘We are planning on it [Conor headlining UFC 219]. He wants to and we want him to so, we’ll see what happens.’
McGregor recently stated that he would have to be a co-promoter if he was to step foot back in the Octagon.
‘Look, the kid wants some money, the kid wants some stuff but if there’s anybody out there who’s worth it, it’s Conor McGregor. We’ve always figured it out with him and we’ll figure it out again.’
If McGregor’s demands can be as easily overcome as the UFC President has suggested, then we may very well see a fight announcement coming shortly. Here is how the card looks like currently:
--- Edson Barboza vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
--- Dominick Cruz vs. Jimmie Rivera
--- Cynthia Calvillo vs. Carla Esparza
--- Matheus Nicolau vs. Louis Smolka
--- Carlos Condit vs. Neil Magny
--- Khalil Rountree vs. Gokhan Saki
--- Rick Glenn vs. Myles Jury
--- Emil Meek vs. Kamaru Usman
--- Marc Diakiese vs. Dan Hooker