Picture a world where Conor McGregor loses to Donald Cerrone. That very well could become a reality tonight (Jan. 18) [ring rust, gas tank, beta coaches, etc.]. While all the stars seem to be aligning for the “Notorious” one to emerge victorious tonight, what if he doesn’t? Here are four possible directions: Trilogy Bout with Nate Diaz It’s safe to say that even if McGregor falls to Cerrone tonight, there would still be demand for a trilogy fight against Nate Diaz. McGregor and Diaz are 1-1 against one another. Diaz submitted McGregor back in March 2016. In August of that same year, McGregor scored a majority decision win in their rematch. Rematch with Max Holloway When McGregor and Holloway shared the Octagon back in Aug. 2013, they were both young in their UFC runs. Going into the bout, McGregor had just one fight under the UFC banner while Holloway had five fights for the organization. McGregor ended up scoring a unanimous decision victory. Second Showdown with Dustin Poirier Speaking of rematches, Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier 2 certainly has its audience. Similar to the Holloway matchup, McGregor and “The Diamond” collided early in their time with the UFC. While Poirier was three years into his UFC run, he was still far from his peak. McGregor’s star power continued to rise when he stopped Poirier via TKO in the opening frame. Retirement Some are likely to argue that McGregor would still pursue a return to the boxing ring if he loses at UFC 246. The problem is, how likely is it that the big names such as Manny Pacquiao will still see value in fighting someone who hasn’t earned a victory since Nov. 2016? At that point, McGregor’s star power as a combat sports athlete would have to be called into question. https://www.mmanews.com/what-if-conor-mcgregor-loses-at-ufc-246-tonight/
He teams up with Pelaton to create an entirely new line of home workout commercials featuring proooooopa noomba twelve, the most delicious whiskey you've eva had, mate!
if he loses he'll probably fight again but it will be a massive sign that his career is only going one way now. Kinda like late era Tyson, it wasn't really him.
Retirement, at least for a while. Losing would throw off his plans, like he mentioned, of coming for all at 170. No BMF fight or possible Khabib rematch. Also, Dana could miss out on a Snow Driveway Panty Night...
Diaz - McGregor 3 would be the biggest $$$ fight and CM follows the money. BTW, Holloway was only 21 or 22 when he and McGregor fought. Holloway has evolved considerably over the past 6+ years as he transitioned from kid to adult. I think Holloway is at the crossroads. I think he will have trouble making 145 going forward and be spent in the cage much like RDA had near death experiences cutting to 155 before he moved up to 170. So Holloway needs to rebuild his body to fight at 155. He has the length for sure and his output is always high volume, but is he strong enough to truly compete at 155. Will he be able to absorb and dish out with the best at 155?
