What he means when he says he wants a war is that he wants a long fight. Every lightweight has seen the first round-plus of the Eddie fight, Nate II, and obviously Aldo. They’ve also seen the back end of Nate I & II and Khabib. The all want to survive the former to reach the latter, and it would be ludicrous not to.
Dustin definitely has a chance. He’s the second best fighter Conor has faced above 145. He’s proven to be durable, and he’s in a better frame of mind than Eddie or Cerrone were in. Cerrone’s spotlight issues are well documented and Eddie took the fight at a time that everyone still tried to pretend that Conor was a big mouthed featherweight. Dustin knows McGregor is elite and won’t fight like an idiot.
Don’t get me wrong — I am comfortable predicting a McGregor win and expect it by knockout sooner rather than later. But if it doesn’t come right away the fight will get interesting.