UFC 223 is set to go down on April 7, from Brooklyn, New York’s Barclay Center, and there’s a lot at stake on the night.
In the main event, UFC interim lightweight world champion Tony Ferguson will face the top ranked and undefeated Russian import in Khabib Nurmagomedov.
It is expected that the winner of this fight will face off with Conor Mcgregor when the Irish mega-star returns to the fight game.
Of course, McGregor himself has yet to decide on a return to action, or against whom. But with his title likely getting stripped due to his inactivity in the UFC, the current UFC lightweight world champion has a lot of interest in how the UFC 223 main event plays out.
Luring Conor McGregor cageside on the night, is his longtime teammate and training partner Artem Lobov.
McGregor goes to every one of Lobov’s UFC fights, and Artem confirms that’s likely why the UFC offered him a slot on the New York fight card.
“Yeah, I guess that probably played a part in them deciding which card to put me on. For sure they would like to see Conor in the arena when Khabib and Tony fights. They did this before his Aldo fight. When Aldo was fighting Mendes they flew Conor into Brazil so that he could watch the fight live in front of them and then he fought Aldo later on in the year.”
It’s a tricky move by the UFC, and having Conor McGregor in the building only makes the night’s main event that much more compelling.
McGregor has been known to yell and scream from the sidelines, as well as stare down fighters from cage side, jump cages after fights, and cause an all out ruckus whenever he deems fit.
The UFC can only hope that McGregor becomes unhinged and jumps into fight promotion rage during the UFC 223 main event.