Former interim UFC Lightweight Champion Tony Ferguson has named Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier as the opponents he would like to face next.

The 36-year-old is coming off the back of a defeat to Justin Gaethje at UFC 249 back in May where he was stopped in the final round after a brutal, violent clash.

With Gaethje now set to take on champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in October, Ferguson wants the quickest route to earning a shot against the winner.

And the American has identified McGregor and Poirier as the most credible opponents to beat in order to get that title fight.

Speaking to ESPN, he said: "So far as fights go, if Conor wants to fight, I’m down for that. I’d love to fight a southpaw. I’d do really well.

"I knocked Aaron Riley’s jaw in that one on accident, so I mean, when it comes down to me fighting standup, you gotta remember when I fought Edson Barboza.

"It’s a lot different. This mix and matching kind of stuff like that, if it does happen again, cool. I’m already used to it.

"Doesn’t matter - opponent switches, Covid, anything else wants to pop up, we’re used to it now.

"You want to give me Conor, you give me Conor. You want to give me Poirier, we’ll make it happen, and then we’ll fight for the winner of the Gaethje and Khabib fight."

Former two-weight UFC world champion McGregor announced his retirement from the sport last month, the third time he has done so.

Meanwhile, Poirier is hot off the heels of a good win over Dan Hooker at the end of June.

Ferguson has a professional MMA record of 25 victories and four defeats from 29 contests.