The question of what's next for Conor McGregor has been on many lips since the Dubliner lost his crossover boxing fight against Floyd Mayweather last year.
Specifically, what his plans are for future fights in the UFC is high on the agenda and with uncertainty casting a mist, Joe was joined by Yahoo Sports combat sports correspondent Kevin Iole to assess what could be on the cards and how he would measure up against his prospective opponents, including Khabib Nurmagomedov who has been 'interacting' with McGregor on Twitter for want of a better word.
You can listen back to the full chat on the podcast player:
The Russian grappler measures up well against McGregor in one aspect that would make for an intriguing contest if it were to happen.
"There are so many ways to win an MMA fight and that grappling and wrestling, if you're going to point to a weakness that Conor has, that's what it is," said Iole.
Khabib Nurmagomedov hits Edson Barboza during a lightweight mixed martial arts bout at UFC 219, Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
"I'm not saying that he's terrible at that aspect of the game but that's the one where he's vulnerable and Khabib is arguably the best in the world at that."
Nurmagomedov's attempts to get a rise out of McGregor:
😂😂😂@danawhite @seanshelby @arielhelwani @AliAbdelaziz00 #McTapper pic.twitter.com/ontkuJ8WE6
— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) January 2, 2018
Tony Ferguson is another option and Iole explained how the American would compare to Nurmagomedov when it comes to matching up against McGregor.
"They're both going to be difficult match-ups [for McGregor] but Khabib and Ferguson, it would be more of a toss-up match. I think you'd have to favour Khabib in a match with Conor assuming especially if he got his hands on Conor. That would be where the fight would turn," said Iole, who then touched on how he would rank the trio at present.
"But I think you have to rank McGregor first because he has gone in there and he has beaten the best opposition of any of the three of them.
"The Barboza fight was Khabib's biggest fight and he came through with flying colours but that's one fight. Conor has beaten a slew [of fighters]. He's beaten the great Jose Aldo, he beat Eddie Alvarez. So I think you rate him No 1 but that being said, you recognise that the styles match up differently for him than they do for other fighters. But I would say, Conor 1, Khabib 2, Tony 3."
