Conor McGregor’s next opponent is essentially a toss-up between two names.
‘The Notorious’ and his team have indicated a desire to return to 145lbs next after an unsuccessful welterweight debut.
McGregor will likely defend his UFC featherweight title this summer against one of two men – Jose Aldo or Frankie Edgar.
The case for an Aldo rematch would be the fact that he held the title for so very long and was caught so early by McGregor at their meeting at UFC 194 that he deserves a chance to reclaim his crown, while the case for Edgar would be that he’s a fresh face and, frankly, has earned a title shot.
And UFC commentator Joe Rogan believes that it would be a whole lot easier for the promotion to hype up a bout against Edgar, rather than recycle the same narrative for an Aldo rematch.
“Frankie Edgar is a way easier sell,” Rogan said on Tuesday’s episode of his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.
“Maybe if Aldo comes back and wins in spectacular fashion, like if he and Cub Swanson have a rematch. Because Swanson vs. Aldo went the same way Aldo vs. McGregor went. Aldo hits him with a flying knee two seconds into the fight cracks him. Aldo has to win again. You could sell [the Aldo vs. McGregor rematch] but you wouldn’t sell it for as much as if Aldo won.”
“When Manny Pacquiao got knocked dead, the Floyd Mayweather fight was off. But then he beats Chris Algieri, looks like a fucking demon again and you go, ‘OK, we can see it again’ and they sold the fight.
“But if they tried to go right from the Juan Manuel Marquez knockout right into the Floyd Mayweather fight? They would have lost a shitload of money. A fighter has to win.”
Rogan went on to warn McGregor that he’d better be ready for a fight with ‘The Answer’ before he accepts it as Edgar poses a challenge that the Irishman has not yet seen in the Octagon.
“Frankie Edgar is a 48-hour storm,” Rogan said. “You better have everything strapped down. He’s not going to get tired and he’s going to keep coming at you. He can wrestle his ass off. His footwork is sensational. I think Conor can knock out anybody, but you know what? So can Cub Swanson and he didn’t connect on Frankie. Frankie just wolverined him.
“Look at the Chad Mendes fight. Conor had a knee injury coming into it but Chad took him down at will. When Frankie gets you tired… What he did to Cub Swanson was incredible. Frankie’s not a huge draw but it’s a big fight.”
