Conor McGregor next fight talks to start Tuesday as Dana White lifts lid on UFC options
UFC 257: Fight in pictures
Conor McGregor was stunned by Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 suffering his first ever knockout defeat in the sport. The Dubliner looked in control in the first round before his opponent came back strong and shocked the world with his emphatic beating of the legend.
It means the two now have one win each after McGregor beat his opponent way back in 2014.
After the bout, Notorious confirmed he would be fighting again which has led to speculation over who he could face next.
UFC bigwig Dana White has opened up on the possibilities and thinks talks could begin as early as Tuesday.
“I think Conor had a good first round, doing what Conor does, but Poirier did, too,” White said at the post-fight press conference.
White then went on to discuss the future for Notorious, saying: “I don’t know, we’ll see.
“I’m sure in a few hours he’ll be blowing me up, telling me a million things he wants to do. So we’ll see what he wants to do.
“There’s always a trilogy when you’ve got 1-1,” White said, with a potential third bout between McGregor and old rival Nate Diaz also likely.
“Tuesday is match-making, we’ll start figuring stuff out,” White added.
When asked about how McGregor will respond to the shock loss the American said: “I think it’ll make him hungry, I think it’ll make him hungrier.
“There’s two ways this goes: hungrier or ‘I’m done.’
“He’s got the money. I’m a huge Rocky fan; this is like Rocky III.
“When you get off a 310ft yacht, you’re living that good life, it’s tough to be a savage.
“On his way up, [McGregor] was a young, hungry kid. He didn’t have any money, and he wanted nice suits, nice cars, nice houses.
“He’s got everything he ever wanted. It goes this way or that way.”
After the fight McGregor blamed the fact he hasn’t been competing regularly for his defeat.
He said: “You know, it’s hard to overcome inactivity over long periods of time, the leg kicks were good, the leg was dead.
“I just wasn’t as comfortable as I needed to be. It’s the inactivity and that’s it, Dustin is some fighter.
“You’re in here and you put in the time, I will dust it off and come back and that’s what I will do.
“Of course, I need activity guys come on. You don’t get away with being inactive in this business and that’s the way it is.
“I am gutted, I put so much work in. Well done Dustin.
“I am proud, I would have liked to have represented my team a bit better but we will get together, I’m going to go home to my kids and just chill and regroup.”
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