Manager for Ferguson and McGregor champions T-Ferg fight: ‘Tony earned a shot at the belt’
Audie Attar, manager for both Tony Ferguson and Conor McGregor, is making it clear that he feels Ferguson has earned a fight with the lightweight champion.
As the Conor McGregor camp seems to be slowly coming around to the idea of a fight with Tony Ferguson, another invested party is throwing their support behind the title unification bout. And in this case, it’s a person that could really help grease the wheels when getting a deal made.
Audie Attar – of Paradigm Sports Management – represents both Tony Ferguson and Conor McGregor in their dealings with the UFC. And, on a recent episode of Michael Bisping’s Believe You Me podcast, he made his case for a fight between his two clients (transcript via MMA Fighting).
“The sport is one where they’re gonna compete. If you have clients in the same weight class and they’re the top of the division, they’re gonna meet. . . With Tony and Conor, it’s inevitable. You have the lightweight champ and the interim lightweight champ, so that’s a fight that’s naturally gonna happen.”
That doesn’t mean he’s the final word, or that the bout is as good as booked. Attar did maintain some reservations as to who McGregor will fight next.
“No, I can’t say [who McGregor will fight next]. Here’s what I will tell you, Tony earned a shot at the belt. He won the interim lightweight title. Conor doesn’t shy away from a challenge. The Nate fight does make sense, obviously, because of the trilogy, they never fought at 155, but they both make sense in their own respective way. However, I do believe that when [McGregor and Ferguson] go at it, it will, in my opinion, validate the belt system. It will validate what a championship belt is all about.”
Eventually, it is starting to sound more and more like all sides are looking at McGregor vs. Ferguson as the logical next bout for both men. And that could mean that fans finally get to see the ‘Notorious’ Irishman defend his UFC title for the first time sometime in the near future.