He couldn't, could he?
Conor McGregor may be sticking to his claim that he'll be bouncing between featherweight and lightweight for the foreseeable future but, as the pounds go on and the prospect of a training camp without a severe weight cut becomes increasingly favourable, you have to think that he'll be looking at 145lb as a division that he's done everything he needs to do.
Granted, Frankie Edgar may have something to say about that but, in reality, that's a fight that McGregor only really has something to lose. He's been on an upward curve at the moment and he ensured that's continued by stepping up to lightweight and taking on Rafael dos Anjos.
All well and good. We've all applauded his bravery/self confidence for going straight for the best the lightweight division has to offer but the reality of the situation is that he's now found his natural level once again. For all the talk of weight cuts, McGregor looks healthiest at 155 and it's a weight that his natural frame would seem to support best.
Of course that's not to say that's where he'll perform best at. It's possible that at UFC 196, he'll be taken to task by Dos Anjos and the criticism that he built his status by simply being the biggest featherweight may crop up all over again. But, then again there's the possibility that he does to the lightweight champ what he did to Jose Aldo back in December. What then?
UFC 200 seems the obvious answer. It would be almost unimaginable that the UFC will head into that milestone event without McGregor topping the card. If he loses to Dos Anjos then it's conceivable he could head back down to 145 to take on Edgar but if he wins, would he really bother? There'd be bigger fish to fry and if the latest chat is anything to go by, we really do mean 'bigger' fish.
Writing in the Wrestling Observer, extremely well respected journalist Dave Meltzer has got plenty of people talking about the possibility that McGregor is attempting to do the unthinkable and is pushing for a title fight at welterweight with Robbie Lawler firmly in his sights.
There’s a ton of news regarding big names fights over the next few months. If Conor McGregor beats Rafael dos Anjos, he’s going to push for a fight with welterweight champion Robbie Lawler at UFC 200.
And Meltzer is not the only one to be pushing that possibility with Bleacher Reports Jeremy Botter also getting fans talking.
Three title fights, at three different weight classes, one after the other. It seems ludicrous and that's because it is. Let's say he does beat Dos Anjos without taking much punishment. He's fighting at UFC 200 one way or another. So what's the possibility of a move to 170lb?
According to John Kavanagh last month, it is something that's on the cards.
I’ve said from the beginning that welterweight may not be out of the question. One of Conor’s main sparring partners, Gunnar Nelson, is a welterweight, so Conor is very used to that feel. I would not be at all surprised if we’re preparing to go for a third belt a year from now.
The key phrase there is 'a year from now'. At 5 '11 and with the same 74' reach as McGregor, Lawler is would be a different kettle of fish altogether (we've no idea where this fish metaphor came from but we're going with it). There will be a big push to make UFC 200 a PPV record breaking event and McGregor vs Lawler would go quite some way to making that happen but it's got to be too dangerous for the Dubliner. He's giving up too much weight, surely?
We won't put it past him but if Khabib Nurmagomedov defeats Tony Ferguson on April 16th then you'd have to think the Eagle is the best bet for McGregor's next fight (we're assuming he beats Dos Anjos here). Moving to welterweight is something to speculate about all we want but there's no rush so, in reality, it's at least a year away before it's a possibility.
Either that or perhaps he just is unstoppable. Next stop Fabricio Werdum.
