Fans are anxiously awaiting to hear what matchup will come next for UFC superstar Conor McGregor and big news regarding “The Notorious” broke this weekend.
The UFC announced during the UFC Fight Night 101 broadcast that McGregor “relinquished” the UFC featherweight title.
For two weeks, McGregor held both the UFC featherweight and lightweight titles simultaneously after taking the lightweight title belt from Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 earlier this month. “The Notorious” was the first fighter in history to be a concurrent two-division UFC champion.
However, the status as a double champ did not last long as UFC President Dana White made it clear prior to UFC 205 that if McGregor did win the lightweight title, he would have to decide which division title he would choose to vacate.
Now that Conor McGregor holds just the lightweight title, many are thinking that defending his belt at 155 will come next and the current #1 UFC ranked lightweight contender is undefeated Russian MMA fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Interestingly, back in March of last year ahead of his scheduled fight against Jose Aldo, McGregor, who had his intentions of winning the UFC featherweight and lightweight titles predicted he would be fighting Nurmagomedov for the lightweight title.
“The Notorious” was asked who he was going to take the belt from at lightweight after beating Aldo (at 53:11 of the video).
“Whoever has it,” McGregor stated.
The Irishman was then asked who he predicted would be the man holding the belt at 155 and answered, “I think Khabib will get the lightweight belt.”
Although Khabib never ended up getting a shot for the title before “Mystic Mac” was able to fight for the lightweight title, it could be McGregor’s first lightweight title defense matchup.
Do you think Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov will meet for a UFC lightweight title fight next? Share your thoughts in the comments on how the fight would go and who you predict who will walk out of the Octagon with the belt!