What's next for Conor McGregor? Five fights he could take after UFC 196 loss
Conor McGregor now goes back to the drawing board after his first loss in five years to Nate Diaz at UFC 196.
By
Brandon Wise
•
3 min read
It was embarrassing to say the least. Conor McGregor came into UFC 196 expecting to walk through Nate Diaz en route to claiming the lightweight title four months from now after Rafael dos Anjos recovers from his foot injury. Instead, some of McGregor's flaws bared their ugly heads in a second-round submission loss in Las Vegas.
Now, the featherweight champ has to figure out where to go from here. Does he go right back to the featherweight division and re-assert himself there? What about the lightweight fight with dos Anjos as previously planned?
Here are five options for McGregor after Saturday's stunning loss.
Max Holloway, featherweight division: Holloway is the only fighter in the UFC to take McGregor to a decision in a fight. Although he lost by unanimous decision in Aug. 2013, Holloway has slowly crept back up the featherweight rankings, winning his last eight fights. Just two of those fights have come via decision with his most notable win coming over Jeremy Stephens in December.
While it won't be the sexiest fight for a potential UFC 200 bout, Holloway deserves to get another shot at the featherweight crown soon. This might be a fight Dana White and Co. consider for later in the year.
Frankie Edgar, featherweight division: Now this one could be fun. Edgar was the man who dethroned B.J. Penn in the lightweight division just before UFC added WEC and created the additional weight divisions. Edgar is also riding a five-fight win streak and has been begging to get his shot at McGregor. He reportedly offered to fight him on Saturday but could not do so while recovering from a groin injury. It left a bit of a bitter taste in his mouth.
"I'm pissed off for a couple of reasons. I'm pissed off that I've got this opportunity slip through again. I'm sitting here, I'm the one who's been trying to fight this guy for months now," Edgar told MMAFighting.com. "I'm flying myself to Vegas on my own dime to lobby to get a fight with this guy and now here comes the opportunity, and I'm hurt and I can't take it. I haven't done anything in four weeks. I didn't just pull my groin, I tore it. I sent Dana and everyone in the UFC my MRI."
These two would definitely bring the words to this war beforehand and set up an absolute brawl in the ring.
Jose Aldo, featherweight division: Now we're getting to the fun stuff. McGregor stopped Aldo in the quickest title fight knockout in UFC history in December. Aldo has been angry since losing in such a fashion, but he said he wasn't able to take Saturday's fight on short notice because he wasn't in shape.
Of course, after seeing McGregor go down on Saturday, Aldo is calling for his rematch for the featherweight belt. If we see this fight at UFC 200, I will not be disappointed. Aldo was considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in MMA during his six-year run as WEC/UFC featherweight champion. McGregor clearly has no fear of Aldo and maybe this time the fight will last longer than 13 seconds.
Rafael dos Anjos, lightweight division: I still think this could be the best pure fight option for McGregor. The scheduled main event for UFC 196, which was derailed after dos Anjos suffered a foot injury, would make an interesting UFC 200 main event to say the least. The biggest question is whether White gives McGregor a title shot in the lightweight division after his showing on Saturday.
While I could see the company looking at Saturday as an aberration with McGregor fighting 25 pounds above his normal weight class, White might scrap the idea of these two duking it out and McGregor trying to maintain two titles. Either way, dos Anjos' tweet after the fight did come with some irony given his current injury.
Soft!!!!
— Rafael dos Anjos (@RdosAnjosMMA) March 6, 2016
This is not feather weight
— Rafael dos Anjos (@RdosAnjosMMA) March 6, 2016
Dos Anjos is riding a five-fight win streak since losing to Khabib Nurmagomedev by decision in April 2014. The lightweight champ has also beaten back all top fighters from the division, including Nate Diaz at a catchweight of 160 pounds.
Nate Diaz, lightweight division: Because who doesn't want a month of these two trash-talking all over the country? Saturday's fight may go a long way in determining whether McGregor moves up in weight class again, a fight with Diaz at his traditional 155 may provide a different result.
