Conor McGregor is itching to get back inside the cage. MMA’s biggest star has made it clear that he wants to fight sooner rather than later, and he’s targeting future opponents.

Just prior to UFC 249, McGregor told UFC president Dana White that he was aiming to make a return to the octagon in June. On Monday, McGregor unleashed a twitter tirade against the promotion’s top lightweight fighters.

McGregor insisted that he should fight interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje in July. Gaethje won the title with a fifth-round knockout of Tony Ferguson in the UFC 249 main event.

Gaethje is instead looking for a title unification fight with UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Nurmagomedov is undefeated in his MMA career and won his first title defense by submitting McGregor in October 2018.

McGregor appears unlikely to get his wish. The coronavirus pandemic could force the UFC to hold events without fans for several months. McGregor is the biggest draw in UFC history, giving White much less incentive to book the Irish fighter anytime soon.

Eventually, McGregor will fight again, perhaps at some point in 2020. Maybe he’ll take on the winner of the title fight between Gaethje and Nurmagomedov. McGregor’s next fight could be against someone that doesn’t own a belt.

There’s speculation that McGregor-Diaz 3 will finally happen this year. Each fighter has earned a victory over the other. The first two fights between McGregor and Diaz headlined two of the four-highest selling pay-per-views in UFC history.

A fight between McGregor and Jorge Masvidal could make sense within the next year. Masvidal is on a three-fight winning streak, including a victory over Diaz and the fastest knockout in UFC history.

In a potential fight against Masvidal, McGregor is a +140 underdog at BetOnline. The sportsbook gives Masvidal -160 odds to defeat McGregor.

Nurmagomedov would almost certainly be a decided favorite over McGregor in a rematch.

BetOnline has made McGregor a -175 favorite in a possible fight with Gaethje. Gaethje is a +150 underdog.

McGregor is a -250 favorite in a potential fight with Diaz, according to Bovada. Diaz has +195 odds to come out on top in the trilogy.

McGregor last fought on Jan. 18 in the UFC 246 main event. He knocked out Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds.

Ireland's Conor McGregor stopped American Donald Cerrone by TKO in 40 seconds in their UFC welterweight bout in Las Vegas
Ireland's Conor McGregor stopped American Donald Cerrone by TKO in 40 seconds in their UFC welterweight bout in Las Vegas GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Steve Marcus
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