Just three months after dispatching Nate Diaz, UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor will move to 155 pounds to face lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez for his title in the main event of UFC 205.
McGregor will attempt to become the first simultaneous two-weight world champion in UFC history as he will be allowed to retain his 145-pound belt through the fight.
The first UFC card to be held in New York City, UFC 205 will take place at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 12, 2016.
McGregor has not fought at lightweight since 2012. He was scheduled to face Rafael dos Anjos for the UFC lightweight title at UFC 196, but dos Anjos withdrew from that fight, leading McGregor to instead schedule Diaz at welterweight (170 pounds). McGregor lost that bout by submission, setting up the rematch with Diaz that McGregor won at UFC 202 on Aug. 20.
Now McGregor gets to fight at a much more reasonable weight and could be recognized as the dual-champion that he's long talked about becoming. A win would make him the third fighter in UFC history to capture belts in two weight classes, the first to hold the straps simultaneously.
This is certainly an interesting development for UFC considering president Dana White noted just days ago that he wanted Alvarez to fight undefeated contender Khabib Nurmagomedov.
White also hinted not only that McGregor was injured but that White wanted him to face a different opponent for McGregor's featherweight title. "Conor's foot is hurt, but he thinks he can fight," White told Yahoo Sports. "I want him to fight [Jose] Aldo."
So much for that. As usual, what Conor wants, Conor gets.
Here's how the full fight card looks as of Tuesday morning.
| UFC 205 fight card | |
| Fighters | Weightclass |
| Eddie Alvarez (c) vs. Conor McGregor | Lightweight |
| Chris Weidman vs. Yoel Romero | Middleweight |
| Tyron Woodley (c) vs. Stephen Thompson | Welterweight |
| Donald Cerrone vs. Kelvin Gastelum | Welterweight |
| Frankie Edgar vs. Jeremy Stephens | Featherweight |
| Liz Carmouche vs. Katlyn Chookagian | Women's bantamweight |
| Rafael Natal vs. Tim Boestch | Middleweight |
| Rashad Evans vs. Tim Kennedy | Middleweight |
| Joanna Jedrzejcyzk (c) vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz | Women's strawweight |
| Miesha Tate vs. Raquel Pennington | Women's bantamweight |
