Daniel Cormier plays matchmaker for Conor McGregor after UFC 303 – win or lose

Daniel Cormier has mapped out Conor McGregor’s future after UFC 303 whether he wins or loses against Michael Chandler.

McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) returns from an almost three-year layoff in a welterweight bout against Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) on June 29 in Las Vegas (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+). He recently said that he hopes to fight three times in 2024.

If McGregor beats Chandler, Cormier wants to see the fellow former UFC two-division champion right back in the title picture.

“If he gets through Michael Chandler, I say give him a title fight,” Cormier said on his ESPN show “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Chael Sonnen. “Put him in there with (Dustin) Poirier or (Islam) Makhachev on Mexican Independence Day or some time soon thereafter. You don’t want to have him having too much time.”

If McGregor falls short against Chandler, he will be on a three-fight losing streak. Cormier thinks it would then be the perfect time for McGregor to settle his beef with skidding Tony Ferguson.

“If he loses, put him in there with Tony Ferguson,” Cormier said. “Tony Ferguson deserves to have that big platform the last time to see if he can go and do what he said he was going to do to Conor all of those times and so long ago.”

Another rivalry Cormier wants to see settled is McGregor vs. Max Holloway, who’s coming off an iconic last-second knockout of Justin Gaethje at UFC 300. Holloway lost to McGregor in 2013 but was the only fighter to go the distance with McGregor at featherweight.

“In December, let him do Max Holloway,” Cormier said. “Let him and Max Holloway fight. I want to see Conor McGregor-Max Holloway today as opposed to when they were children. The first time they fought, they were kids. I want to see Max Holloway get an opportunity to right that wrong against Conor McGregor, especially if it’s the Max Holloway that we saw fight Justin Gaethje.”