Following “The Notorious” Conor McGregor’s swift destruction of Dustin Poirier last month in Las Vegas at UFC 178, the brash Irishman (pictured) has not wasted any time in moving on and has since reignited his feud with New Mexico native Diego Sanchez. The pair have mutually agreed to face off in the Octagon after the withdrawal of Northern Ireland‘s Norman Parke who was forced to step away from taking on Sanchez due to injury.
Yesterday McGregor (16-2) tweeted definitively that the fight was on and set for November 15th in Mexico however, UFC President Dana White soon responded with a definitive ’No’.
Despite this, Sanchez (25-7) has chased up the potential contest this evening with an attempt to rally fans and perhaps sway White into obliging the two contenders.
But, would this fight even be worth it?
Prior to facing Poirier, McGregor was yet to face well established competition in the UFC even with an impressive 3-fight win streak, and the suggestion of McGregor vs. Sanchez at this point made good sense to many. Even with Sanchez’s recent lack of consistency, the Ultimate Fighter Season 1 middleweight winner is a highly recognised name who posed an initial threat with his brawling fight style, and furthermore, had added exposure that in turn could elevate the career of McGregor.
However, McGregor has since made light work of a top-5 ranked featherweight in Poirier – knocking out the American in devastating fashion like none before him, and in doing so has become the most talked about contender in the UFC today. The Irishman has now assumed the position of his former nemesis as the #5 ranked featherweight, and has truly risen above the likes of Sanchez who currently fights in the lightweight division and stands outside of the top-15 having just broken free of a 2-fight losing streak by the skin of his teeth when England’s Ross Pearson was robbed of a decision victory by the judges at UFC Fight Night in Sanchez’s home town on June 7.
While the majority of Diego Sanchez bouts are anticipated to be ’Fight of the Night’ contenders due to his aggressive fighting style, it’s highly unlikely that a methodical and unorthodox fighter such as McGregor would be drawn in to one of “The Nightmare’s” trademark brawls. While the proposed match up would generate a large degree of anticipation, the eventual contest would no doubt fail to produce the war that many would hope for, and yet another one-sided finish for McGregor over far less relevant opposition would be most likely, so what‘s the point?
photo by Jorden Curran
