UFC Rumors: Conor McGregor’s Next Opponent Could Be Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone

After a huge first-round submission win against “Platinum” Mike Perry, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone teased that his next fight would be against a huge name and that it would take place in the UFC’s lightweight division (Saturday’s win was at welterweight).

While not official, we now know the huge name “Cowboy” was hinting at, and it’s Conor McGregor. Cerrone posted a side-by-side photo of himself and McGregor with the caption “Just waiting on him,” per CBS Sports.

The implication here is that Cerrone has already agreed to the fight and he’s just waiting for McGregor’s camp to accept.

Former UFC fighter and current Bellator competitor Chael Sonnen thinks the fight isn’t a crazy idea, saying, “There is something to a Donald Cerrone-Conor McGregor fight that makes a lot more sense than maybe a lot of people put together,” in a recent YouTube video.

As noted by Sonnen, Cerrone and McGregor had an entertaining back and forth in 2015, and the two could certainly create an entertaining build for a fight, which could lead to a massive gate and PPV number should the two step into the cage.

Donald Cerrone’s win this weekend set UFC records for most finishes in the promotion with 15 and most wins in the promotion with 21. McGregor isn’t without records, either, as he’s the first fighter in UFC history to hold two championships at the same time, though he gave up the featherweight title after winning the lightweight belt. Daniel Cormier has since gone on to hold both the light-heavyweight and heavyweight titles at the same time.

Conor McGregor is coming off a submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229, while Donald Cerrone just recorded his record-setting submission win this past Saturday. Generally, the UFC tends to put fighters coming off wins against other fighters coming off wins, but with two fighters who draw the kinds of money that “Cowboy” and “The Notorious” are known to, that kind of matchmaking goes out the window.

We’ll need to wait for an announcement from the UFC to see if this fight is actually happening, or if “Cowboy” is just trying to drum up hype for a big payday in a fight with McGregor. After all, Conor has expressed interest in a rematch with Nurmagomedov. He did note, however, that would face whoever is “next in line,” which very well could be Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.

Regardless of who Conor fights, the Irish Mirror reported on Monday that McGregor “may be on the verge” of signing his next fight, though nothing has been made official by the UFC just yet.