UFC star commentator and podcaster Joe Rogan recently appeared on Mike Tyson’s podcast named ‘Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson‘. During a segment of their conversation, Rogan and Tyson discussed what Conor McGregor should do for his return fight.
‘The Notorious One‘ snapped his ankle during his third fight against Dustin Poirier in the summer of 2021. Since then, he has been out of commission and underwent surgery to repair the gruesome injury. However, as evident by his recent social media posts, Conor has once again started training in a full-fledged manner.
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But this time around, he does not want to come back to the lightweight division. McGregor wants the 170lbs title shot against the champ Kamaru Usman. The UFC is also allegedly trying to make the fight as per Chael Sonnen.
Although Joe Rogan is supportive of McGregor’s wish to move up to Welterweight and fight Usman, he would not recommend it. In conversation with Mike Tyson, Joe advised Conor on what to do if he wants sustainable success instead of a cash grab.
Joe Rogan and Mike Tyson want Conor McGregor to have a tune-up fight
Joe Rogan wants the first-ever UFC double champion to take it easy instead of rushing into fighting elite fighters such as Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler or Kamaru Usman. He cited Conor’s comeback fight in 2020 against Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone. Rogan wants Conor to go up against someone competitive but who is not an elite of the division. He said,
“I hope so (that Conor comes back) because he’s fun. I hope he comes back. But I think honestly when boxers come back from a long layoff and they come back from a loss, one thing that boxers do that’s smart, is they have a tune-up fight. I think there’s a reason why they have been using tune-up fights forever. Like astoop managers, they know you gotta knock the dust off and you’ll be better in the next performance.”
“I think what Conor needs to do is what Conor wants to do. If Conor thinks he can go up and fight Usman and make a big payday and try to become a three-division champion, he should do that. He should do whatever he wants to do. But if I was like a manager to him and say what’s the best path to success, the best path to success is like a Cowboy fight,”
Mike Tyson agreed to the statement. But fighters often disregard the reality in order to achieve their goals. Hence, McGregor wanting to jump straight into a title fight is not surprising. However, Rogan‘s advice for Conor is a good one because the latter has not fought in over a year. As a result, facing the pound for pound no. 1 fighter in the world may go horribly for him.