And while White didn’t mention an Aldo-McGregor rematch specifically after UFC 202, he did confirm that McGregor-Diaz 3 won’t be happening next. I’m the 145lbs champion. “Then we’ll figure out where we’ll go from there”. “There are many things in the pipeline, so sit tight”. But after consecutive outings at 170lbs, White doesn’t want to see McGregor compete at welterweight again.
Advertisement
So how was McGregor able to come away with the victory at UFC 202?
However, it seems like Conor McGregor will need to rest for months before returning to the Octagon. The stats tell a story all their own, with McGregor scoring three knockdowns in the first two rounds, and defending six out of seven takedowns. So he stood up there on top of the stage, screaming, then he just comes back off stage and then like a serial killer he just looked at me and said that. He wanted to fight Floyd Mayweather, but Mayweather didn’t want it.
And when he refers to “his weight”, he means either featherweight or lightweight.
A smart move on McGregor’s behalf considering the ground game of Diaz, who is a black belt Jiu-Jitsu fighter training with the Gracie family. Speaking on his Fighter and the Kid Podcast, “Big Brown” stated that the idea of a Jose Aldo match ‘pisses him off’.
For the Irishman everything was on the line: revenge, relevancy, earning power; not to mention a fight-camp that cost him over $300,000. “Obviously if he went to 155, there’s tonnes of fun fights there”. This all added up to McGregor dominating at range, even though he was giving up a height and reach advantage.
For the Californian, proof that his prior victory over his opponent wasn’t a fluke based on a massive weight class differential on short notice. “That’s what I’m interested in”.
The lightweight division is a more natural home for him, but at the moment it’s a frothing sharkpool with Alvarez, Ferguson, Barboza, Cerrone and Dos Anjos chumming-up the waters. “And he might do it, just to spite me”, said Kavanagh. “How can they do that?” I’m going to make it happen. “Shit is about to hit the fan, I feel, so we’ll see”.
Advertisement
Yet despite the bloody slugfest and the clamor for a third fight, White quickly shut down thoughts of a trilogy, and instead laid out two clear options he wants the featherweight champion McGregor to take.
