Think it's the fourth time they have been scheduled to fight, let's hope we get to see what should end up being a good fight and Khabibs toughest test so far in a dominant career. If Conor beats Cowboy and comes through unscathed,I think he will have to fight again rather then wait till end of year to fight the winner of this fight,maybe on undercard in a title eliminator and as a back up if there is any issues with fighters in main event
Connor and Cowboy fight is at a different weight, but it is the UFC and they will want to cash out. Connor should at least have to go through Gaethje who would more than likely squash him to get a shot at 155 again. If Tony were to win against Khabib there is no way he should leapfrog Khabib after he was destroyed by him.. But as mentioned UFC and logic at title shots with Mctapper go out the door
Conor gets past Cerrone they will set up a Conor-Masvidal for the ufc circus belt and that will be the end of Conor's career imo. He will have 2 more fights, Cerrone then Masvidal and then we won't see him fight again. A Conor-Masvidal fight is probably on par with a Conor-Khabib fight for mma fans/casual fans hype. Masvidal has turned into a huge star himself and I would prefer it because Conor has not/will not earn a legit title shot at 155 and I want to see Masvidal really put some damage on him.
Do they have a back up lightweight on standby in case things turn pear shaped? They did that with Usman when Woodley fought Till, and I think they had Volkov do the same for a heavyweight title fight. I know the last time Tony and Khabib were matched, Eddie Alvarez was on standby on an informal basis. Justin Gaethje would be the logical understudy, but I remember hearing him say he's reluctant to fill in on short notice.
This will be the fifth time they have scheduled this fight now, pretty sure both have pulled out twice each. Must be the most jinxed fight in UFC history! Surely, this time we will actually get these two in the cage together once and for all.