McGregor Was on the Tip of a Lot of Tongues in Florida

Despite Rafael Dos Anjos successfully defending his lightweight crown for the first time and Nate Diaz returning with a vintage boxing display against Michael Johnson, the newly crowned featherweight champion, Conor McGregor, was the talk of the town in Orlando, Florida on Saturday night.

Any fighter who could lay claim to a shot against the Irishman sounded off following their wins at the Amway Centre, with Dos Anjos, Diaz and even Charles Oliviera putting their names in the hat for MMA's "money fight." McGregor has proven to be a very lucrative dance partner, and you can't blame the fighters for trying to align themselves with the Dubliner.

However, it almost became like an episode of the X-Factor or American Idol. After having their hands raised, the fighters immediately appealed to the crowd to seal their fate as soon as the opportunity presented itself. All three men tried to prove themselves as a worthy opponent to match McGregor's verbal majesty that has attracted so many new eyeballs to the sport.

While contestants on the talent-based reality television shows appeal to their audience to keep them in contention for the ultimate prize, the stars of UFC's Orlando event tried to generate enough interest to secure them a date with McGregor as soon as a microphone was thrust in their path.

First up was Oliveira. Maybe it was the Brazilian himself or maybe it was his translator, but following his stunning first round guillotine finish of Myles Jury, 'do Bronx' did not set the world on fire with his goading of 'The Notorious.'

"I'm coming, Conor. Don't get happy because I'm coming to get you," he said through a translator, igniting a brief murmur in the gathering.

Dos Anjos' dominant performance over Cerrone may have underlined his status as the top dog in the lightweight bracket, but he too couldn't resist the urge of poking his finger in the chest of the Irish featherweight.

"Hey Mr. McGregor!" he boomed into the microphone in the middle of the Octagon. "If you want to come to the lightweight division, this is my division, man. It's better for you to stay in the featherweight division."

There were no surprises when it turned out to be Diaz who won the biggest pop of the night. Having been out of action for over a year, the younger of the infamous Diaz duo reminded the world of the massive gulf that had been left in the sport due to their absence when he got his chance to speak. Such was the explicit nature of his tirade that it was pulled from the broadcast, but there is no doubt that the returning lightweight caused quite a stir.

"Conor McGregor, you're taking everything that I worked for, motherfucker," blasted Diaz after his decision win over Michael Johnson.

"I'm going to fight your fuckin' ass. You know what's the real money fight, it's me, not these clowns that you already punked at the press conference. Don't nobody want to see that. You beat them already. They were easy fights. You want that real shit."

And the McGregor talk didn't stop after the final bell. After they were sat in front of the awaiting media, Dos Anjos and Diaz again were put on the spot to justify their credentials with regard to a fight with the Straight Blast Gym trailblazer.

Dos Anjos said: "Conor McGregor has been saying that he wants to come to my division and I think it's not going to be a smart decision for him. If he wants to come, I will be happy to help him (come into the division)."

Diaz maintained that McGregor is the fight that would motivate him, something that has proved to be a stumbling block in the past when he has not been matched for what he considers "big fights."

"Sometimes when you're just fighting to fight, there's no motivation in that. I want to fight good fights, big fights that count. When I fought Dos Anjos it was hard, you know. It was hard to get up and train for that fight. He's a really good fighter, he does well, but he was not the biggest name at the time and things didn't go so well.

"Now this guy Conor McGregor is coming back and he's doing all this big stuff. Everybody's calling him out left and right–I'm not like these guys. I'm not begging for no fight, but we're talking about big fights.

"He wants a big fight. We could fight, and that's a big fight. And that's the kind of shit I'm talking about. Real fights, not funny, fake fights."

Speaking backstage after his win over Johnson, Diaz told MMAFighting.com that UFC matchmaker, Joe Silva, had already told him the McGregor bout was his.

"He told me it's on. We're going to do this. Everybody wants that fight," the American lightweight told Ariel Helwani.

After the fight card was all said and done, McGregor tweeted out a picture of himself standing in front of one of his numerous luxury cars with a caption that read:

"Line them up on their knees with their hands out. I want them to beg me."

It appears as though the best way to get a fight with McGregor is to get the MMA world interested through verbal spats rather than climbing to the top of the ladder. The injustice that many feel Frankie Edgar has suffered by not getting a shot at McGregor was further buried by the appeals in Florida on Saturday night.

UFC must capitalize on McGregor's crossover appeal by putting on the fight that will guarantee the most amount of viewers from outside of the usual MMA viewership. Although Edgar has proven his worth on countless occasions, and Rafael Dos Anjos's status as champion would make for an obvious sell with McGregor at the top of his own division, don't be too surprised if the Fighting Pride of Stockton is plucked from the bunch following his well-publicised callout of the Irishman.