‘He Needs To Show That He’s Worthy’

Conor McGregor is always one fight away from a title shot.

As the biggest star in mixed martial arts (MMA) history, McGregor finds himself privileged to some special treatments. For example, “The Notorious” is done with the days of any fights that aren’t headlining pay-per-views (PPV). Upon his eventual return in 2024, the idea has been floated out there about him challenging the reigning Lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, despite having lost two fights in a row.

Former two-time champion, Daniel Cormier, highlighted the possibility, but his old coach at American Kickboxing Academy (AKA), Javier Mendez (also Makhachev’s coach), doesn’t like the idea.

“In terms of matchmaking, I don’t know if you can say [it’s a good fight] from a real sport (perspective) – and this is not a real sport,” Mendez told Red Corner MMA (h/t MMA Junkie). “This is entertainment first, because if it was a real sport, then Conor wouldn’t get the amount of opportunities he gets. So from a real sport [perspective], no, he needs to show that he’s worthy. But from an entertainment [aspect], yes, because he’s still the biggest name right now.”

In terms of a story link, Makhachev and McGregor have a tie with McGregor being the biggest rival to Makhachev’s mentor, the former Lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov. While Nurmagomedov silenced the Irishman with a fourth round neck crank in October 2018, there will always be bad blood between each side.

Other than continuing to try and punish McGregor, Mendez thinks better legacy fights are out there for Makhachev.

“I see that as a fight that would be interesting for Islam because he gets to do what Khabib didn’t finish, I guess you could say,” Mendez said. “He gets to come back and get on the same journey that Khabib did. It’s a great payday for Islam. I think it’s great if Islam wants it.

“If he doesn’t, then maybe going to the Welterweight title is more appealing to him — to create a legacy that he wants, because beating Conor is not going to create the kind of legacy that Islam wants,” he concluded. “Going after the Welterweight title, that’s a legacy-type moment. With Conor, it’s a money and it’s a hype thing, so I don’t know his thoughts on that. It’s never been brought up.”