UFC News: Jorge Masvidal's coach says he wants Conor McGregor next but expects Nick Diaz

Jorge Masvidal has been riding a wave of momentum in 2019 that has put him in the conversation for "Fighter of the year". With knockout victories over Darren Till and Ben Askren, followed by a doctor stoppage finish of Nate Diaz in one of the most highly-publicized fights of the year, it's clear that his stock has risen higher than it ever has before.

A name that has popped up to Masvidal as a potential next opponent is Conor McGregor, but Masvidal rubbished the idea of a fight against him in the UFC 244 post-fight press conference, calling the Irishman a "midget" and warning him not to take that fight.

He would, of course, be open to it as it would mean the "most zeroes" in his paycheque - something that Masvidal has been open about. He trains at American Top Team, run by Dan Lambert, who was recently interviewed by BJPenn.com. The ATT Owner said that if it were up to him, a fight against Conor McGregor would be next as it's the biggest payday - but he certainly doesn't expect it:

“They are all big money fights but all different money fights. Jorge and the team made it clear he wants whatever has the most zeros at the end,”

Lambert said it's ironic that the biggest money fights for Masvidal don't involve the Welterweight Championship:

“He wants to make the money, to me, the biggest money fight is always Conor McGregor so if I had it my way, I’d have him fight Conor next. It is probably going to be Nick [Diaz], and it will get a lot of eyeballs. It is kind of ironic, the lesser money deal is the title fight.

He revealed that the only other person in the conversation for "Fighter of the year" is Israel Adesanya but said that he would give the edge to Gamebred. A fight against Conor McGregor would be a well-deserved payday for Masvidal but it seems like an unrealistic fight as of this writing.