Each week, ESPN.com writer and MMA Live Extra analyst Brett Okamoto provides his take on the hottest topics in the world of mixed martial arts.
This week, Okamoto squares off with lightweight contender Tony Ferguson to debate the latest news and trends. Ferguson (20-3), will face unbeaten Khabib Nurmagomedov (22-0), at UFC Fight Night on April 16 in Tampa, Florida.
Editor's note: Due to a unique circumstance, Five Rounds turned into Four Rounds this week.
1. Following a foot injury to Rafael dos Anjos, UFC 145-pound champ Conor McGregor will fight Nate Diaz at a 170-pound fight at UFC 196. Is it a smart move for the champ McGregor to accept a catchweight fight?
Ferguson: For a guy who talks that much s---? Yeah, you better f------ do it. There's no backing down now. You claim to be the king of everything. You think at 155 we're a bunch of sticks in the mud. We'll send you back where you belong. He talks way too much s---. For me, personally, I would love to make his face completely bloody, but I'm sure plenty of lightweights can do that. I think both me and Khabib would make this guy our b----. I don't have to talk. As long as I walk the walk and keep winning, I'm doing my job. I see him as the quickest sub in the world. He's flat-footed. The UFC has greater plans for me. Does this dude need an a-- whooping? Yes. You're not a God, you're an idiot. Maybe I'll help Nate train to beat the s--- out of this dude.
Okamoto: Doesn't seem smart to me -- especially the 170-pound part. Why not force Diaz to go through the hassle of cutting weight? Stack the deck in your favor as much as possible, that's what smart champions do. This is what makes McGregor special though. He could force Diaz to come down in weight but instead, he says, "Why? I'll beat him anyway." He could not fight at all, wait a couple of months and preserve the opportunity to make history by fighting Dos Anjos for a second title at a later event. He doesn't do any of that. Plenty of fighters are confident, but McGregor's confidence level is immeasurable. It flirts with insanity. Eventually, you sort of expect it to get him in trouble. But it hasn't yet.
2. Former champion Jose Aldo turned down an offer to replace Dos Anjos on 11 days' notice. Was that a smart move by the former featherweight king?
Ferguson: It's his decision to make. Whatever he wants to do. There's a lot of bull---- that goes into a fight with Conor. I'm that guy who takes that bull---- and uses it against him. If this fight were in Brazil, it would have worked for Aldo. Conor uses countries against people. You have to have a strong mind and strong body. Aldo would have taken the fight in Brazil. Guarantee Conor wouldn't have been there. That little b----. He's built such a fan base wherever he goes, he needs it. I guarantee, once he hears one boo, the master of movement is going to look like s---. Aldo just couldn't snap out of it. He would not look at Conor (when they fought at UFC 194) for the life of him. I sat there and watched, from the time he was in his locker room, the walkout -- he was in the Octagon and didn't look at him.
Okamoto: Hard to say without speaking to him and getting his full side of the story. You can't help but think he's letting his only shot at a rematch with McGregor slip by, though. McGregor is headed for bigger and better things than a rematch against a guy he knocked out in 13 seconds. Maybe Diaz beats him and sends him back to earth ... or maybe he beats Diaz, then Dos Anjos, then Robbie Lawler and retires with three belts? Who knows right now? But back in July, Aldo pulled out of a fight with McGregor on less than two weeks' notice due to injury. How cool would it have been to see him step up and fight him on less than two weeks' notice this time? Storybook. Instead, he's not ready -- after stating in a social media post recently he'd be ready "any time, anywhere." I can't fault Aldo for not taking a fight he didn't feel ready for, but this goes to show why he was never a wildly popular champion.
3. True/False: Conor McGregor defends his UFC featherweight championship at least once.
Ferguson: True. We're going to send his a-- back down.
Okamoto: His next fight is at 170 pounds. He and his coach John Kavanagh have publicly talked about fighting for the 170-pound title. The cut to 145 was always very difficult. Sitting here today, it's hard to envision his future is at 145. Then again, if he loses to Diaz, it makes sense that he'd make at least one trip back to featherweight to defend the title and remain a champion. Could go either way depending on future developments, but right now I'll say false. There will be a growing demand for that division to move on.
4. Are Bellator MMA's 'circus fights,' such as the one between Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson and Dhafir "Dada 5000" Harris last week bad for the sport?
Ferguson: I heard a lot about that. I hope that Dada 5000 is doing better. I don't think it's bad for the sport. I think as long as they're competing, it's great for the sport. From what I heard, they did what -- 2.5 million viewers? Obviously, it sells. If it sells and it's going to work, I'll correlate it with McGregor talking s---, that's going to work. If you're hot and you're going to get numbers, that's going to sell. For Bellator MMA, I'm not a big fan. I'm a company man, I'm about the UFC. But it's about promotion. How are you going to promote yourself? For me, I make my money winning. I don't feed into the social media. I don't care.
Okamoto: I wrote a column about this already earlier in the week. No, it doesn't hurt the sport. MMA is beyond the time when a bad fight, even a bad freak show fight, sends it back a few years. Certain pockets of older generations still see it as a blood sport, but by and large it's matured from its 'no holds barred' roots. Had Dada 5000 not recovered from his medical scare that night, that would have been a different story -- but even then, I'm not sure the public's wrath would have completely fallen on MMA as a whole. Some of it would have, obviously, but I think it would have been somewhat concentrated on Bellator and, to a lesser extent, the Texas athletic commission. Since Dada 5000 has stabilized and the massive ratings have been tallied, the ugliness of the fight really has no ill effects on MMA in general.