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Conor McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh has named six potential opponents the former UFC champion could face in his return to the Octagon, including a “terrifying” trilogy fight with Nate Diaz.
McGregor has been out of action since suffering a broken tibia in his defeat to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July.
The former two-weight UFC champion has packed on some serious muscle during his rehabilitation and recently claimed to be “190 lbs of granite”.
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The Mirror claims McGregor is eyeing a return to sparring in April ahead his comeback fight and Kavanagh has now given his opinion on potential opponents.
“I’ll be honest, the Nate Diaz trilogy is very, very tempting. It’s a fight that gives me nightmares,” Kavanagh told The MMA Hour.
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“The man doesn’t stop coming forward. Whether it’s three rounds or five rounds. But it’s an intriguing fight. So, that one is definitely very interesting.”
Diaz beat McGregor via submission at UFC 196 in 2016 before the Irish fighter avenged that defeat with a majority decision win over the American at UFC 202 later that year.
Diaz was last in action at UFC 263, when he was beaten by British fighter Leon Edwards.
Kavanagh also suggested McGregor could make his return against Tony Ferguson, who has lost his last three fights against Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush.
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Kavanagh continued: “Also the Tony Ferguson one. It never happened. It was talked about a lot.
“Tony still has, I believe, a lot to offer the game. He’s a very unorthodox striker, grappler.
“I think the build-up would be fun for the fans. So, you know, any of those kind of legacy guys.”
Diaz and Ferguson are not the only options according to Kavanagh, who has also put forward a number of other names from the lightweight division.
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“Look, that division is killer. You know, Dan Hooker’s in there,” he added.
“The Islam [Makhachev] fight would be amazing as well, for obvious reasons. And we have, you know, whoever’s going to win this belt [Oliveira or Poirier].
“So, you know, look, any of those names. I’m just excited to see Conor back.”
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McGregor himself recently talked up a potential fight against unbeaten rising star Khamzat Chimaev in a recently-deleted post; a match-up that Diaz originally suggested on Twitter.
"Let him fight kamrat (sic)," Diaz wrote. "That be a great fight to make. He needs an easy new guy to fight anyway he can taper back in and see if he can even still fight at all."
McGregor responded, saying: "No problem, b****."
Featured Image Credit: Conor McGregor/Twitter & PA ImagesTopics: UFC, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Tony Ferguson, Dustin Poirier, Dan Hooker, Charles Oliveira
