It’s basically a waiting game now to see what Conor McGregor decides to do, or who he’s going to fight next. Meanwhile, Tony Ferguson just earned a black belt to go with his interim UFC lightweight title. Unless your carrying a belt, most fighters at the top have a hard time getting an opponent, but McGregor could literally pick anyone he wanted. Eddie Bravo has gone on record with us that he thinks Ferguson is the match-up to book, he recently talked more about it in a new interview.

“It has to be Conor [McGregor]. It has to be. I mean, it’s either Conor or vacate. You need to defend or vacate, that’s what it’s all about. […] Think about where [Tony Ferguson]’s at right now. He’s got the belt. It’s the interim belt but he’s got the belt. It doesn’t look like Conor wants any part of Tony. It doesn’t sound like he’s interested in him at all. He’s never been interested in Tony because he knows Tony’s mind. He knows that Tony can’t be broken mentally. Who better to coach Tony than himself? That’s the way I look at it. It seems like he doesn’t because he’s not calling him out. He’s not responding. So, I can only assume that that means he’s not that interested.”

“Zero 😎Fucks” 🇺🇸🏆🇲🇽#DefendorVacate MF’er 😎🖕🏽#TonyFergusonMMA SnapJitsu™ #SnapDownCity This Is My Mat. pic.twitter.com/9aMmzAB3z5

— Tony Ferguson (@TonyFergusonXT) October 14, 2017

“That’s the biggest fight right now: Tony [versus] Conor. Tony’s already proven himself. He’s one of the top guys in the world. He’s already proven himself. What’s a bigger fight than that? Khabib [Nurmagomedov] and Conor that’s big too. I think Tony’s bigger than Khabib. He’s got the belt, that’s bigger. Who else? Nate Diaz. That’s a great fight, that’s a trilogy. That could happen. That’s huge too, but I don’t know if it’s bigger than Tony [versus] Conor. No, no [I haven’t heard anything from the UFC]. Not at all. Nothing. [Ferguson’s] heard nothing. He’s already training, back working on his stand-up. He knows it ain’t over yet. Whoever it is that’s going to step up next, whether is Khabib or Conor, Man, it’s going to be one hell of a fight.” — Eddie Bravo speaking to Talking Brawls podcast.

We’ve known that Conor McGregor has recently said Tony Ferguson’s name. Well, at least just the first part. Of course, Ferguson was quick to respond himself. Whether you agree with Eddie Bravo or not, Khabib Nurmagomedov has failed to make it to multiple fights with Ferguson. As for the Nate Diaz fight, he’s been waiting on the sidelines since UFC 202 and he’s not going anywhere. That fight could happen anytime. Tony Ferguson is here now, the time is right, and he has no unrealistic demands. Besides, after McGregor defends his title — successful or not — he can still fight anyone he wants. He’s already proven a loss doesn’t hurt his drawing power one bit.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 10/20/2017.