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Former Ultimate Fighting Championship Featherweight and Lightweight champion Conor McGregor could be in the line to fight for the Lightweight Championship. UFC President Dana White dropped some hints regarding the Notorious One’s next bout while addressing one of the media houses.
He said, “There’s a lot of variables that have to come together for him to come back and fight. No. 1 is health and how’s his leg, once that’s 100 per cent, then we’ll start to figure out where he goes. We have fights made all the way up until June 18 already. Once he’s 100 per cent ready to go, we’ll get him figured out and see what’s what with the lightweight division.”
As the current Lightweight champion, Charles Oliveira is set to defend his title against Justin Gaethje on May 7 at UFC 274, White talked about how McGregor’s return also depends on the then champion. He added, “Well, it’s going to depend on who the champion is. The champion has some say in that, too. Who is going to be the champ when Conor McGregor comes back and what do they want to do?”
“If you look at Oliveira, if it’s still Oliveira by the time [McGregor] comes back, maybe he wants Conor. Who knows. We’ll see what happens,” concluded White.
Trouble in the division
It is to be noted that McGregor’s return could be completely ruled out as it could affect the other fighter in the lightweight division. Fighters like Beneil Dariush and Islam Makhachev have shown great promise and would also want their name in Championship sweepstakes.
Justin Gaethje has previously talked about his feelings if McGregor gets an underserved opportunity. While speaking with TMZ, he said, “I’ll burn it all down. What do you mean? I’ll burn it down, that’s what I’d do. [McGregor] is so irrelevant. He has not won a fight since 2016 in the lightweight division.
“I’m ranked No. 1. I saw they updated the rankings. I’m No. 1 now. That feels pretty good. My whole life I’ve been working towards this. That is what’s next. I’ll show up and start throwing dollies everywhere. I don’t know what the answer is.”
