Although John Kavanagh revealed that his preferred option for when Conor McGregor returns to the UFC would be a trilogy fight with Nate Diaz,
It seems inevitable that a third Diaz fight will take place with the series score currently at 1-1, but speaking at 'An Evening with Conor McGregor' in Glasgow [via MMAFighting.com] the UFC lightweight champion said that for the moment he is interested in shutting up those who are moaning about him not defending his title.
Many of the fighters and fans have been complaining for some time regarding the apparent special treatment that the UFC have given McGregor in deciding who he fights and when, and that has not gone unnoticed.
There were fears that a fight with Diaz would create a further backlog in the lightweight division - with Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee competing for the interim title next week - but McGregor has eased those concerns with his latest comments that he wishes to defend his belt first and foremost.
Look, I’ve got the UFC title to defend and that means something to me. I will defend that world title.
Nathan is there. He’s trying to come in here and make all of these demands. If he starts pricing himself out of an event, I probably will defend against the person who wins this interim belt, or someone along that line to legitimise it again.
I’ve already gone from the highest of the high in terms of a money fight. Now the question I always get is about defending the belt and legitimising the sport and the rankings.
Maybe now it would be a good time for me to go and do that and shut that side up.
This is music to the ears of many of his fans, and even those who don't care for the Dubliner, as UFC 205 feels like a long time ago and many cannot wait to see him compete in the octagon against a new foe.
In terms of who that may be, McGregor will have a keen eye on Ferguson vs Lee next week, although he did admit the first step is making sure that bout goes ahead considering what happened when Ferguson was supposed to face Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Again, we’ll see what happens in the fight. I hope they make the walk. I’ve seen it so many times where they slip on the bleedin’ soap getting out of the bath.
Honestly, I feel like in the Tony and Khabib fight, they were in a game of chicken of whose going to pull out first.
In my head now, I’m very interested in seeing this fight this weekend and to see how the lightweight title picture pans out and to go in and correct that whole situation. That’s where my thoughts are.
It's good to hear that McGregor wants to defend his belts, as while the accusations of him "ducking" or avoiding other lightweight contenders may have been a reach, the vast majority of his fans want a return to UFC title fights and all the excitement that they bring.
Who-ever wins the main event at UFC 216 (if we get there, of course) will almost certainly have something to say to Conor McGregor in their post-fight interview, so we can expect some more news on this soon.
For now though, it's good to know that McGregor has his mind on defending his title.
