Conor McGregor just booked his fist fight at lightweight against Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 197 on March 5th.
The fight will not only be McGregor’s first at lightweight, it will be for the lightweight championship. While most champions who move up a division to pursue another championship belt have to vacate the title, that isn’t the case for ‘The Notorious’.
According to his coach John Kavanagh, McGregor could be looking to go up and pursue the welterweight championship as well.
He writes for The 42:
“Conor has been cutting down to 145 pounds since he was 16. He’s now 27 so it will be nice to take a break from that weight-cut. We’ve done it plenty of times before and we’ll do it again. Funnily enough, the last weight-cut â for the Aldo fight â was probably the best one yet thanks to the help of George Lockhart, who’s on board again for this fight. He’s part of the team now. You’ve seen Conor on salads… now watch what he’s like on steak. And maybe the pursuit of belts won’t stop there either. I’ve said from the beginning that welterweight may not be out of the question. One of Conor’s main sparring partners, Gunnar Nelson, is a welterweight, so Conor is very used to that feel. I would not be at all surprised if we’re preparing to go for a third belt a year from now.”
There have only been two 2-division champions in the UFC, BJ Penn and Randy Couture, however there has never been a 3-division champion…
Could McGregor be the first?