In the aftermath of Conor McGregor’s majority decision victory over Nate Diaz at UFC 202 this weekend all the talk was about a trilogy fight between the two, but it seems the UFC has other plans for the Irishman.
Speaking to Megan Olivi backstage after the fight, White categorically stated, “We’re not doing this fight a third time right now.”
Instead, White indicated that he’d like to see McGregor either move back down to featherweight and defend his title for the first time against Jose Aldo, or vacate the belt.
However, in an interview with TMZ Sports yesterday, the UFC President not only confirmed that he was “moving on” from the madness of McGregor Vs Diaz, but also suggested an alternative option for the Irish superstar: fight lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez.
Formerly Bellator’s lightweight champ, Alvarez got off to a shaky start in his UFC debut with a loss to Donald Cerrone, but he’d then go on to notch up split decision wins over both Gilbert Melendez and Anthony Pettis, before seizing the title from Rafael dos Anjos by a first round TKO at UFC Fight Night 90 last month.
Alvarez has already been talking trash to both McGregor and Diaz since their second encounter on Saturday night, indicating that he was less than impressed by what he’d seen from the two stars.
“Better keep that weak shit away from the lightweight division, You both got work to do @TheNotoriousMMA @NateDiaz209 #ufc #thnq #comeCMe,” Alvarez wrote on Twitter.
Of course, as the sport’s biggest star, McGregor holds a lot of power when it comes to deciding what he wants to do next, and backstage at UFC 202 he was hinting that he might be about to throw a spanner in the works.
“I have other stuff in the pipeline,” McGregor stated at the post-fight presser. “S**t is about to hit the fan.”
It’s not clear what he meant by that cryptic statement, though at a media scrum later that same night that his next fight might not be in this sport, which will surely spark new chatter about a potential money-spinning boxing match, with Floyd Mayweather Jr known to be champing at the bit to go up against McGregor in the ring.
McGregor is still under contract with the UFC however, so the chances of that actually happening remain slim.
