As tends to happen, Conor McGregor was looking in supreme condition at the open workouts ahead of UFC 196 on Saturday night. In reality, the real work has already been put in, now it's all about selling the fight to as many people as possible. And, as he's said himself once or twice, he's rather decent at that as well.
Nate Diaz is a stop-gap measure. This was supposed to be McGregor's history making fight, double world champion and all that. Rafael dos Anjos' withdrawal has halted those plans but McGregor has certainly not given up on them, even if it's not going to be the lightweight champ who gets his share of the hefty UFC 200 pie.
Asked about his plans after the Diaz fight, McGregor was fairly clear on who he sees as his opponent next time around, which, barring something disastrous, will almost certainly be at UFC 200. Welterweight champion Robbie Lawler was put to him by journalists and McGregor admitted that's the fight that's at the top of the list at this moment in time.
That's there. I mean, why not? That's probably the leading option.
I like Robbie. I won't say a bad word about Robbie. He fights with his heart. He's been around the game so, so long. But if we fought, I would beat Robbie. I'm too fast for him. The size difference is not anything. I've stood beside him. I've seen him.
But what of Rafael dos Anjos?
Dos Anjos is an absolute bum, I swear. And he's still complaining. How do you pull out of a fight with a bruised foot and he's still talking all this shit and his team is talking all this shit?
Man up and fight. Come on. I don't know what to say to this guy.
It's difficult to know what to make of that. If McGregor is to make a play for the welterweight belt then Lawler may well be his best option. As impressive as he's been, his style probably suits McGregor more so than the likes of Johny Hendricks or Stephen Thompson. However, the selling for Dos Anjos has effectively already been done, so, for all his assertions, we certainly won't be ruling out the lightweight champ just yet.
You can see the full media scrum below courtesy of MMA Fighting.
