It's high likely that Conor McGregor defeats Nate Diaz at UFC 196 tonight. He is the prohibitive 1/4 favourite with the bookies.
Post-fight, being interviewed by Joe Rogan, we're probably going to hear the Dubliner call out his next opponent. The thinking is, it's not going to be lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, the man who was originally scheduled to be his opponent tonight. Neither will it be featherweights Jose Aldo or Frankie Edgar.
Instead, it's going to be Robbie Lawler - the man who currently holds the welterweight belt.
Speaking to Fox Sports, Dana White expressed his belief that should McGregor beat Nate Diaz - impressively - his days at featherweight are over and he remains at 170.
I think if he wins impressively tomorrow, he doesn't even go back to 45. That's what I think. That weight cut is horrible for him. He looks terrible. I'm sure he feels terrible. I think he stays at 170 if he wins tomorrow.
UFC 200 is currently scheduled July 9th in Las Vegas. It is going to be a landmark event for the promotion. A prestige fight such as Lawler vs McGregor would be the perfect headline event.
According to Dana White, McGregor would have no issue vacating the featherweight title should he be handed that bout with Lawler.
McGregor himself has questioned recently the merits of the possible challengers currently in the featherweight division.
That would be a non-issue if he wasn't going to go back and he understands that. Listen, when you're dealing with Conor McGregor, he's a smart guy. He gets business. He's not unreasonable about anything and he will fight anybody, anywhere, any time.
How could anybody have a problem with that? When you're dealing with super talented people, they're always going to be quirky and different in their own ways, but no matter what you are, if you act and fight and will step up for anything the way Conor does, you can't deny the kid.
Picture credit: Sportsfile
