Getty Conor McGregor & Dana White
MMA superstar Conor McGregor returned to the Octagon in January and lost to Dustin Poirier in a lightweight bout.
It was a rematch six years in the making and the fight went a lot different than the first. When they fought at 145 pounds in 2014, McGregor finished “The Diamond” in the first round by TKO. Then last month, they met at 155 pounds and Poirier defeated “Notorious” by second-round TKO.
Since the fight, both Poirier and McGregor have said they want to compete in the trilogy. And UFC president Dana White recently confirmed to ESPN his interest in putting the fight together next.
“[Conor McGregor’s] completely obsessed with the rematch now and wants the fight back,” White said.
“When you have two guys, Dustin, who’s the No. 1 guy in the world, and a guy like Conor, and they both want it that badly, you do it, you know?” White said. “You do it.”
The UFC president confirmed the fight wouldn’t be for the lightweight title. White is set to meet with champion Khabib Nurmagomedov soon to discuss his fighting future.
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Nurmagomedov Is Still the UFC Lightweight Champion, White Believes He Would Fight McGregor Again Should the Irishman Go on a Win Streak
Although he announced his retirement in October after defending his lightweight strap against Justin Gaethje, Nurmagomedov remains the champion. He has not yet formally vacated the title nor has the UFC stripped him of it.
When White meets “The Eagle” in Las Vegas, they will discuss Nurmagomedov’s MMA plans. White confirmed that there is no rush for The Eagle to defend his title as there are a number of contenders that need to fight it out first to determine the top dog.
After McGregor’s defeat to Poirier in January, the prospect of seeing Nurmagomedov vs. “Notorious” 2 seemed gone. But if McGregor can get back into the win column and take out some contenders, the UFC president believes Nurmagomedov would fight him again.
“[Nurmagomedov] hates Conor McGregor so bad,” White said. The hate that these two have is as real as anything you’ve ever seen and I believe that if Conor came out of this thing and Conor was going to be the guy to win the title, I truly believe that he would fight Conor.”
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The Lightweight Division Is Stacked With Big Names & Fun Fights
The UFC’s 155 pounds is the best weight division in MMA and the top 10 is littered with stars. White confirmed that the promotion is putting together an unofficial tournament where a lot of the top talent will fight in the coming months to determine who should either fight Nurmagomedov or for the vacant title.
Here is the top 10 of lightweight, not including Nurmagomedov.
- Dustin Poirier
- Justin Gaethje
- Charles Oliveira
- Michael Chandler
- Tony Ferguson
- Conor McGregor
- Rafael dos Anjos
- Dan Hooker
- Beneil Dariush
- Paul Felder
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