8 Most Viable Opponents For Conor McGregor

Although he may have found himself competing in the second-to-last bout on the undercard of the illustrious UFC 205, there was a time when it appeared that Russia's premier fighter Khabib 'The Eagle' Nurmagomedov would hold a much more coveted spot on the bill. "Khabib gets the next shot at the belt," declared UFC president Dana White as he sought to rebuff accusations that Conor McGregor would skip the queue and find himself vying for the Lightweight strap against Eddie Alvarez; remarks that we now know to be outright deceptive. Incensed, the Dagestani sambo practitioner entered the cage opposite an on-form Michael Johnson with a lot to prove and a considerable chip on his battle hardened shoulder.

Navigating his way through a wave of well-placed strikes in the early going, his fearsome wrestling, ground strikes and unrivaled understanding of how to constrict his foe's movement on the ground and render them utterly helpless proved to be the deciding factor; with the fight mercifully drawing to a close in the early stages of round 3 due to an extremely tight kimura. Immediately calling out McGregor in his post fight speech, the man with the biggest active win streak in MMA at an astounding 24-0 made it all too clear that he is ready for his shot at the title. McGregor himself has espoused little interest in facing Khabib and branded him a 'consistent pullout merchant' before stating that 'we'll see where it goes' in the most non-committal way possible.

It would make for a very tough outing for the two-division champ. His performance against Johnson is impressive when viewed in isolation but becomes all the more frightening due to the fact that it's indicative of the ease with which he's dispatched anyone that's been brought to him during his career.

While the fighter commonly known as 'The Menace' is known for being a powerful striker in his own right, his blows are incomparable to the narcoleptic abilities of Conor's left hand and this could prove to be the difference maker which allows McGregor to pick up the 'W' over what would be potentially one of his biggest challenges to date.