MMA

Conor McGregor’s Next Fight Announced by Dana White on SportsCenter

MMA


After months of speculation and rumors, we now know the details of Conor McGregor’s next fight. According to UFC President Dana White, speaking with SportsCenter on ESPN, McGregor will face UFC lightweight champion in the main event of UFC 205.




This man, UFC lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez, will be Conor McGregor's next opponent, and possibly the greatest test of his career. Photo by Sherdog.

This man, UFC lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez, will be Conor McGregor’s next opponent, and possibly the greatest test of his career. Photo by Sherdog.

The news is hardly surprising and has been a topic of discussion for months now.

Alvarez and McGregor have been going back and forth since Alvarez’s shocking seizure of the UFC lightweight championship at UFC Fight Night 90, where he knocked out then-champ Rafael dos Anjos in dramatic fashion. While there has been a great deal of discussion about a showdown with lightweight contenders Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson, and even a rematch with dos Anjos, Alvarez has been calling out McGregor for months.

McGregor himself has gotten in on the action as well. The featherweight champ has been sniping at Alvarez on Twitter for months, calling him out and sending subtle barbs his way. While he has made it clear that his first choice of competition is a massive boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, he indicated following UFC 202 that he was done with his beef with Nate Diaz.

Nate Diaz, unfortunately, is going to have to sit back and wait to see if he'll have a shot at Conor McGregor. Photo by Sherdog.

Nate Diaz, unfortunately, is going to have to sit back and wait to see if he’ll have a shot at Conor McGregor. Photo by Sherdog.

A number of people are mad about this fight, of course. McGregor’s rival, Nate Diaz, is likely livid about having to wait for a big money rubber match with McGregor, and stated following UFC 202 that he wasn’t interested in taking any fight outside McGregor. UFC interim featherweight champ Jose Aldo is in a similar boat, and will continue waiting for his rematch with McGregor. Other contenders at 145 and 155 pounds are also annoyed as McGregor cuts in line for a huge payday.

Still, there’s a lot to be excited about as a fan here.

Alvarez is one of the most exciting fighters in MMA. While idiot fans malign him for taking split decision wins over Gilbert Melendez and Anthony Pettis, he had an amazing run as Bellator lightweight champion, where he posted numerous exciting fights. This should be fireworks in the UFC 205 main event.

McGregor vs. Alvarez joins two other major title fights on the card, and could very well set the UFC PPV buyrate record. Photo by Sherdog.

McGregor vs. Alvarez joins two other major title fights on the card, and could very well set the UFC PPV buyrate record. Photo by Sherdog.

The full card as it currently stands is as follows:

Lightweight- Eddie Alvarez vs. Conor McGregor 
Welterweight- Tyron Woodley  vs. Stephen Thompson 
Women’s Strawweight- Joanna Jędrzejczyk  vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz 
Welterweight- Donald Cerrone vs. Kelvin Gastelum
Women’s Bantamweight- Miesha Tate vs. Raquel Pennington
Featherweight- Frankie Edgar vs. Jeremy Stephens
Middleweight- Tim Kennedy vs. Rashad Evans
Middleweight- Tim Boetsch vs. Rafael Natal
Lightweight- Jim Miller vs. Thiago Alves
Welterweight- Lyman Good vs. Belal Muhammad
Women’s Bantamweight- Liz Carmouche vs. Katlyn Chookagian

That’s a damn good card, if I do say so.

If Conor wins, he will become the first-ever fighter to hold two separate UFC titles at the same time (the only other fighter to even attempt this is BJ Penn, who fought Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight title while lightweight champion) and would be the third to hold UFC championships in two different weight classes (behind only Penn and Randy Couture).

We’ll see how this goes, but it’s officially time to start getting VERY excited for this card.


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