White: Conor McGregor is the logical #1 contender
Dana White: “Here’s the thing: If you go down the list, every one of those guys has fought Jose Aldo already. Conor hasn’t. So who do you line up next?”
Each week UFC president Dana White sits down with web content producer Matt Parrino for The Download, to look at the news of the week. It would take an invasion of aliens in octagonal saucers to avoid discussing featherweight Conor McGregor, who soared to #5 in the rankings after predicting a 1st round KO of Dustin Poirier, and then delivering it.
McGregor recently floated the idea of a fight at lightweight vs. Diego Sanchez. White promptly shot that down, but talked about something far bigger – a shot at the winner of the UFC 179 headliners Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes.
Here’s the thing: If you go down the list, every one of those guys has fought Jose Aldo already, said White. Conor hasn’t. So who do you line up next for the champ other than Conor? Everybody else has fought him.”
So Lorenzo and I went to dinner with him last night, and he said he wants to fight Diego Sanchez in Mexico at 155. I said, ‘You’re nuts. No way, we’ll get you a fight. You’ll be fighting soon enough.’ The kid just wants to fight. He said him and Diego have been talking back and forth for a while and he wanted to fight him. We basically told him no and he went out and put that on Twitter anyway.
That leaves no opponent for Sanchez at UFC 180, whose opponent Norman Parke suffered an injury in training. How about Joe Lauzon?
And who should get the next shot at featherweight champion Jose Aldo? Top contenders Chad Mendes and Cub Swanson fight each other in the main event of UFC Fight Night 57 on November 22, 2014, and the winner will be the clear #2 ranked fighter in the division. However, White’s right – everyone above McGregor already lost to Aldo convincingly. Being #2 in a division doesn’t necessarily make you the #1 contender.
Champion: Jose Aldo
1. Chad Mendes – Lost to Aldo via first round KO at UFC 142 on 1/14/2012
2. Cub Swanson – Lost to Aldo via KO in 8 seconds at WEC 41 on 6/07/2009
3. Frankie Edgar – Lost to Aldo via UD at UFC 156 on 2/02/2013
4. Ricardo Lamas – Lost to Aldo via UD at UFC 169 on 2/01/2014
5. Conor McGregor ??!?