I think Tony is out too long term. It will be too long to not have Khabib fight. If not Conor, I think Khabib needs to fight Eddie, Dustin, or Lee. Maybe do Eddie vs. Dustin in July/August and the winner vs. Khabib in November/December.
I'd love to see Conor-Nate 3, but at the same time, I hate these super fights that don't really make sense. Get on with the division. If they do fight, I want it to be at 155lb. Nate's fought almost his entire career at 155 and that's where Conor should be. That's where both should be fighting.
Frankie said he wants the winner of Max/Ortega. I'm sure he knows when that fight is, so I think he's willing to wait (and/or jump in if one of those guys drops out).
I think it hasn't worked out great for Nate since Conor has been MIA in MMA for so long, but I think waiting for the 3rd fight with Conor was the right decision. He's a .500 fighter. If he comes back and loses, then I think the interest in the Conor fight goes down some and/or makes it a hard sell for the UFC to even make that fight. If he waits and gets the fight with Conor, it can be hyped as the trilogy, his return, and depending on what Conor does, Conor's return. That would be a huge fight. Probably bigger than Khabib-Conor.
Nate's been in the news enough where he hasn't been forgotten, though. There was the Woodley rumors (which made no sense). Eddie has been calling him out. He's been talking **** about a lot of guys. He's a fan favorite who's famous with casual fans after the Conor fights. Whenever he comes back, it's going to be a big fight. How big depends on if it is Conor or not.
The only rumor about him fighting at 170lb was Woodley and that would have been a no-lose situation for him. He's a 155lber who would have gone up to challenge for a belt. It would have been a decently big fight and if he won, it would have made the Conor trilogy....HUGE... If he lost (which he almost certainly would have), oh well. He's not a 170lber. As long as he doesn't get embarrassed, it still keeps the trilogy with Conor in play and gets him back in the octagon.