There’s a clear difference in ideals between Conor McGregor and the UFC regarding what’s coming next, and there’s going to be some contention when it comes time to hammer things out. Case in point: McGregor’s potential move to lightweight.
The new and undisputed UFC Featherweight Champ has an interest on capturing a second title at 155 lbs, and on the Fox Sports 1 post-show Saturday night, UFC President Dana White had ideas on what would be next at featherweight should that happen.
“I don’t think he wants to make [featherweight] anymore,” White said when asked what was next (transcribed by MMAFighting.com). “I think he’s looking to move up to 155 pounds. Obviously, if that happened you’d probably do Edgar vs. Jose Aldo for the title. If Conor decides to stick around and fight Edgar, then Jose would fight somebody else.
“I think that was always his plan. He wanted to fight Jose Aldo and then move to [155 lbs] and then fight for that title.”
That’s not quite what McGregor has in mind, as he made it clear at the post-fight press conference that he’s not planning on vacating anything, and if he moves to lightweight it will be to take the Lightweight Title and defend both belts as a simultaneous dual champ.
Penick’s Analysis: Obviously the UFC likes to keep divisions moving if the title is going to be held up, but McGregor expressed his plan to keep both divisions moving. Take his second title, drop down to face the next featherweight contender, move back to lightweight to defend against the next challenger there, so on and so forth multiple times a year. If he can remain as active as he’d like on a schedule like that, there’s a lot of money that could be made for him and the UFC, though he’s also going to be commanding a much larger share of that revenue moving forward.
[Photo (c) Gary A. Vasquez via USA Today Sports]
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