Khabib vs. Conor: Because That’s All You Care About

Right now, I could be talking about how, at UFC 227 on Saturday night, Henry Cejudo became the first Olympic gold medalist to capture UFC gold when he carried the ghost of a first round TKO loss from two years ago and shined by becoming the first fighter to defeat Demetrious Johnson at flyweight and become the new UFC Flyweight Champion.

I could be talking about how TJ Dillashaw put an exclamation point on the end of his Team Alpha Male rivalry by turning back Cody Garbrandt faster than he did the first time they fought.

I could be talking about how Renato Moicano used Cub Swanson’s skull to punch his way to a seat at the table of the featherweight contender conversation.

I could even be talking about the return of Frank Trigg, MMA referee (seriously, is anyone else wondering how he’ll handle an inadvertent groin strike?)

I could be talking about all of that, but I’m not going to. Not because it isn’t interesting and worthy of discussion, but because I know most of you don’t care to talk about that right now.

You just want to hear about Conor McGregor and his return to MMA.

Yeesh. Okay, here goes…

The moment that many of us were waiting for (and many of us were hoping wouldn’t happen so that maybe there was a chance the sport would return to some semblance of normalcy) has happened:

The prodigal son has returned.

The goose that lays the golden eggs is ready to get back to work.

In the end, it doesn’t really matter…because there are Payperviews to sell.

That’s right. Nate Diaz is back in the UFC.

HOORAY!!!! 209 IS BACK IN THE HOUSE!!!! WHERE’S ALL MY WOLF TICKETS AT???

…or at least he was in the house until it was announced that Conor is going to fight in the main event of UFC 229 on October 6, one month before Nate is supposed to fight Dustin Poirier.

Well…still nice to see you, Nate. I guess you’ll have to find another way to make $20 million. Maybe Oscar de la Hoya can float him some cash…

Conor returning is obviously big news for the UFC. He hasn’t competed in the Octagon since becoming the first Champ Champ in 2016, choosing to pursue, and get, a blockbuster drubbing at the hands of Floyd Mayweather instead.

That fight happened a year ago. Conor hasn’t done much since then, or at least he hadn’t until April, when he appeared after a pre-fight presser for UFC 223 and proceeded to provide the UFC with plenty of promotional material for his next fight by THROWING A DOLLY AT A BUS FULL OF PEOPLE!

I suppose I should stop making a big deal out of that. I mean, the courts didn’t think it was a big deal, sentencing him to an entire work week’s of community service and anger management, not to mention paying restitution, which I’m sure will sting to a man who allegedly made nine figures in his last fight. Poor baby…

Ultimately, though, the point of this isn’t to criticize the U.S. justice system and it’s blindingly obvious double standards when it comes to how it punishes rich celebrities. It’s more to criticize the UFC and it’s blindingly obvious double standards when it comes to how it handles it’s top draws when they do stupid stuff.

Seriously, didn’t the company used to have a Code of Conduct? Or did that go away when Matt Hughes was laid off?

Then again, there’s no point in criticizing them for their lack of ethics, either, since we all know how shameless the company is. This is the company that condemned the Jones-Cormier brawl then turned around and made it the centerpiece in their advertising for the fight.
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And guess what the focus of the first UFC 229 promo was?

Hello, dolly…

The UFC can make decisions like this because they know they can get away with it. They have the brand recognition and the reputation for featuring the best the sport has to offer. They have the biased media who does little to criticize them in fear of the consequences that would come from biting the hand that feeds them. They have the fanbase who claims to hate the idea of booking without integrity but still tunes in for all the big freak show fights anyway.

Business isn’t as good as it used to be but it’s still strong enough to score the company a ridiculous broadcast deal with ESPN. The company can do whatever it wants and still come out on top.

No wonder Dana White gets along with Donald Trump. He uses the same business model towards the same ends and, as a result, the same level of success. Except with more swearing.

If there’s anything to wonder about all this, it’s why Conor feels the need to return. He’s not going to make anywhere near the amount of money he made for the Mayweather fight, not unless UFC gives him the entire revenue for the event, including the paychecks of every other fighter on the card, which would not surprise me in the slightest if that were to happen.

Maybe Conor feels he owes it to Dana as a make good for ruining multiple fights on the UFC 223 card and putting the company in an awkward situation following it. Or maybe his skin really is so thin that one fighter casually insulting his friend means a blood vendetta that can’t be satiated until he lays hands on the party responsible, whether through legal or other means.

Or maybe Conor just bought some new pants and needs a belt to hold them up. Who knows what motivates him these days.

At least the idea of booking Conor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov, the man who became The Man in Conor’s absence by beating Tony Fegu—-Max Hollow—a real estate agent from Long Island, is a relevant one, since Khabib became champion despite not defeating the man who was champion.

Now he gets the chance to do that, to cement his championship as legitimate, to prove on the biggest stage that he’s truly earned everything he’s won, including all 26 of his pro fights.

Whether Khabib can do that is a topic for another day. At least we now know that, in two month’s time, in what will be, without question, the biggest UFC event of 2018, we may have a chance of seeing some semblance of normalcy finally return to the UFC lightweight division.

That is, unless Conor wins and then proceeds to split for another two years, possibly to try and challenge France for their World Cup title or something. Or Khabib wins and then Tony Ferguson appears as the next mini-boss and everyone is like “fifth time’s the charm, right?” all before Khabib badly misses weight right before Ramadan starts and is out for most of next year.

This is normalcy in the UFC, isn’t it. This really is…

Evan Zivin has been writing for 411 MMA since May of 2013. Evan loves the sport, and likes to takes a lighthearted look at the world of MMA in his writing…usually.