The Takedown | UFC: Dana White needs Conor McGregor off Twitter and back fighting, so line up Justin Gaethje and cue the media storm
- UFC delivers first major sporting event during the Covid-19 era and now looks to the future as the world remains under lockdown
- UFC president White should put star moneymaker McGregor back in the Octagon, throw the playbook out the window and book him vs Gaethje
As the UFC finally made its triumphant return last weekend in Jacksonville, Florida, the promotion’s quintessential superstar wasn’t far behind in making sure he got his share of the spotlight.
Conor McGregor wasted little time in inserting himself into all the fresh UFC 249 post-fight chatter as to where Dana White and company go from here, and he did it in typical McGregor fashion: a series of expletive-laden tweets.
We can’t be surprised and should have expected this from McGregor. Getting into the specifics of his tweets is unnecessary and – when you boil it down – irrelevant. All that matters is McGregor has announced his comeback and wants the limelight back.
Justin Gaethje’s dismantling of Tony Ferguson for the interim lightweight title threw a wrench into a lot of narratives. Many expected Ferguson to win, which would have set up a sixth attempt to book him against divisional champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Now Gaethje can be ignored no more – his victory was incredibly impressive, pummelling Ferguson relentlessly and putting a bow on the fight with a fifth-round TKO.
The fact McGregor targeted Gaethje in a few of his toilet seat tweets should also come as no surprise. Gaethje vaulted himself into the UFC stardom stratosphere overnight, in a fight everyone was watching because, quite frankly, there was nothing else to watch when it came to sports.
