Conor McGregor’s hotly-anticipated return to the Octagon is edging ever closer, and with fans even more excited after his recent body transformation, the question as to who he will face hangs in the air.
McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh has mentioned six names that the Irishman could potentially face after he broke his leg back at UFC 264 whilst fighting Dustin Poirier.
Poirier was one of the names mentioned by Kavanagh, who is hopeful that McGregor will return to sparring by April.
Poirier faces Brazilian Charles Oliveira at UFC 269 in Nevada on Saturday, with the winner of that bout being a potential opponent for McGregor.
However, Kavanagh’s biggest temptation is a potential trilogy fight with Nate Diaz, who McGregor beat the last time the pair faced off back in 2016.
“I’ll be honest, the Nate Diaz trilogy is very, very tempting. It’s a fight that gives me nightmares," Kavanagh said whilst on The MMA Hour.
"The man doesn’t stop coming forward. Whether it’s three rounds or five rounds. But it’s an intriguing fight. So, that one is definitely very interesting."
Another name thrown into the ring, or should we say Octagon, is Tony Ferguson, someone whom McGregor has never fought, but has always been linked with fighting.
The pair are extremely fiery, particularly over social media, with McGregor in the past having threatened to ‘kill’ Ferguson should the pair ever fight, with the American accusing the Irishman of being ‘fragile’ and using PEDs.
Kavanagh continued when discussing possible future fights: "But also the Tony Ferguson one. It never happened. It was talked about a lot.
“Tony still has, I believe, a lot to offer the game. He’s a very unorthodox striker, grappler.
“I think the build-up would be fun for the fans. So, you know, any of those kind of legacy guys."
Dan Hooker was another man mentioned by McGregor's coach, as he continued dissecting his six-man hit-list.
"Look, that division is killer. You know, Dan Hooker’s in there.
“The Islam (Makhachev) fight would be amazing as well, for obvious reasons.
“And we have, you know, whoever’s going to win this belt (Charles Oliveira or Dustin Poirier).
“So, you know, look, any of those names. I’m just excited to see Conor back.”
The final name mentioned by Kavanagh, Russian Islam Makhachev, would certainly make for a very interesting fight.
He has only lost once in his MMA career, back in 2015 to Adriano Martins, and Kavanagh believes this too would be a tempting bout, with McGregor calling the Russian out by replying to an old tweet.
However, Islam does not feel the same way and no longer deems McGregor a worthy opponent as he just wants to fight for titles.
Regardless of who he fights, fans and Kavanagh alone will be eagerly anticipating the return to the Octagon for The Notorious.