What with all the bulking that's been going on over the past couple of weeks, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Frankie Edgar is unlikely to ever get his shot at Conor McGregor.
The featherweight champ may be determined to hold and defend two belts at once but if he does beat Rafael dos Anjos on March 5th, the possibility of heading back down to 145 may not seem that appealing after all. We're certainly not going to bet against him being able to cut all that weight but aside from Edgar, the fights at featherweight simply may not be worth the hassle of another gruelling weight cut.
Going forward, you have to think that the big money fights are at lightweight. Outside Dos Anjos, there's quite a few fighters who have legitimate claims on a title fight and chief among them is Khabib Nurmagomedov. The Eagle's injury record may have ensured that he was essentially a footnote in the lightweight division over the past couple of years but Dominick Cruz has this week proved that injuries can be overcome and Nurmagomedov is well on the way to recovery.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on a wide ranging MMA Hour this week, the Russian fighter confirmed that either one of Tony Ferguson or Eddie Alvarez would be next up for him although he did say that he would need twelve weeks before he feels he is ready to step back into the Octagon.
By that time however, it's quite possible that there'll be another lightweight champion. The Eagle has said in the past that Rafael dos Anjos needs to beat him before he can call himself the true lightweight champion. Nurmagomedov's last fight was against the Brazilian in April 2014 and he duly overcame Dos Anjos in three rounds. It had looked like everything was set up for him to move for the title. That didn't happen however and Dos Anjos stepped into the breach and improved no end.
However, according to the man himself, it's unlikely to be Dos Anjos that stands in his way if/when he overcomes Ferguson or Alvarez. Nurmagomedov was asked for his take on the headline fight at UFC 197 and he was fairly clear that he felt McGregor would once again take the victory via KO or TKO.
In my opinion, in the lightweight division, Conor McGregor is the strongest guy there because he (now) doesn't need to cut much weight. I think his takedown defence is good and, this is my opinion, he has more punching power and kicking power.
Rafael dos Anjos is a very tough guy and if the fight goes to five rounds, my opinion is that Rafael dos Anjos will win but first or second round, I think Conor will win. But my prediction, I think Conor will beat him by knock out.
Obviously enough, McGregor won't need a confidence boost, he has that in spades. But nonetheless, to see the last man to beat Dos Anjos tip him for yet another knock out win has got to feel good. And if it does play out the way Nurmagomedov is predicting you'd have to think that we could well see the two men go head to head before the end of 2016.
McGregor may well go down to 145 one last time to face Edgar at UFC 200 but after that, it's surely time to concentrate on lightweight. And if that happens, then the Eagle is the big name on the horizon.
See also: Conor McGregor May Just Have Been Given His Most Intimidating UFC Challenge
You can hear Nurmagomedov from the 3:13:00 mark.
