Conor McGregor is a man of lofty ambitions. The moment he arrived in the UFC, he had his sights set on the featherweight title held by pound for pound great Jose Aldo. Two years and seven fights later, he’s the new 145 pound champion and he’s already looking to collect another belt: the 155 pound lightweight strap.
Typically, the UFC is extremely reluctant about its champions switching weight classes, but they were cool with Conor moving up to lightweight … so long as he agreed to leave his featherweight title behind. That wasn’t what McGregor wanted to do, though, and as the UFC’s biggest star after Ronda Rousey, Conor McGregor tends to get what he wants. Now UFC president Dana White is saying he’ll let the Irishman hold both titles if he can win them. Via Fox Sports:
“Conor has said he would like to win the 155-pound belt and fight four times a year and defend both belts,” White said on “UFC Tonight” on Wednesday. “If anybody can do it, Conor McGregor can. This guy has done pretty much everything he said he would do so I’m interested.”
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White admits that he would never normally allow a fighter to hold two belts at the same time, but most people aren’t Conor McGregor.“That is true, normally I would say if you’re going to move up in weight you’re going to have to give up the belt, but Conor has done everything he said he would do,” White said. “He wants to fight, he really likes money, so if anybody could do it, it’s probably him.”
This is not something that Dana White would agree to easily. In the 23 years the UFC has existed, only one champ has been allowed to move up and compete for another belt: lightweight champ B.J. Penn, who fought Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight belt in 2009. Even then, the promotion declared that B.J. would have to relinquish a belt and stay at one weight class even if he did win both. That didn’t happen: St-Pierre smashed Penn, and thus ended the only opportunity anyone has had to simultaneously hold two UFC belts at once.
Now Conor McGregor is gonna get his chance, and the UFC is going to let him defend both straps if he wins the lightweight title! That’s a pretty big if, though. The 155 pound belt is currently being held by Rafael dos Anjos, a sleeper champ who turned a corner in his career a few years ago and may now be entering his Anderson Silva phase. He’s absolutely destroyed his past five opponents and just nuked #1 contender Donald Cerrone in just over a minute. Taking the belt off him will be no easy task.
But Conor has been proving people wrong since he arrived in the UFC. People said he couldn’t beat a top-five featherweight. He did. Then they said a good wrestler would pound him down. He beat Chad Mendes with ease. But there’s no way he could defeat Jose Aldo! Not only did he win, but he won in 13 seconds! Rafael dos Anjos may be a stiff test, but Conor McGregor has been blowing past every test he’s faced with ease.
Exciting times to be a UFC fan. Now all we have to do is wait and find out what McGregor’s next fight will be. Will he defend his featherweight belt against Frankie Edgar? Stick a toe into the lightweight division by fighting Nate Diaz? Or will it be all or nothing against Rafael dos Anjos for a shot at the lightweight title and a place in history?
