The fight between Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone doesn’t seem to be in the works and Joe Rogan knows why.
A week ago the ‘Notorious’ and the ‘Cowboy’ were near certain to meet in the Octagon. In fact, it had seemed that the highly anticipated fight might be scheduled for a date later this year.
All the speculations about the possible fight came to an end this past weekend. In clear comments, UFC president Dana White revealed that McGregor vs. Cerrone was ‘nowhere close’ to happening. Furthermore, he said they are still in hunt of new opponents to fight Donald Cerrone.
White later mentioned that Cerrone might face Al Iaquinta and further said that McGregor may not make his return to action until the fall.
Although Conor McGregor is seemingly champing at the bit to book his next fight but it might not be anytime soon and not with ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone for sure.
UFC color commentator Joe Rogan revealed the reason he heard the fight fell apart and it all comes down to headlining a pay-per-view.
“They were trying to do ‘Cowboy’ versus Conor and apparently the sticking point was that it was going to be a co-main event. I think the idea is that they have to have world titles as a main event for pay-per-view.”
On one hand, McGregor and Cerrone didn’t comment much about the fight. On the other, UFC has always tried to anchor every pay-per-view with a title fight in recent history.
It’s very uncommon for a non-title fight to headline a pay-per-view, but not impossible. Some years ago, the UFC planned a pay-per-view card with a non-title fight as the main event for UFC 202. McGregor headlined the event in a rematch against Nate Diaz for UFC 202. That event was one of the biggest UFC pay-per-views of all time.
That’s also what happened at UFC 234, when the championship headliner fell off the card on the day of the event.
As for where McGregor goes from here, it remains to be seen. That’s a concern especially if the UFC isn’t offering him a title fight and won’t put him into a main event without a championship on the line.
Conor McGregor has to see how he will get along if the UFC doesn’t offer him a title fight and won’t put him into a main event without a championship on the line.
Rogan thinks McGregor’s interest is in the biggest fights. It’s logical that with all his wealth and success, the biggest draw on any card will be McGregor.
He further said,
“I think he’s only interested in big fights, like things that excite him now because he’s got so much money and so much success. It’s just one of those things.”