Dana White explains why Conor McGregor would jump Gaethje for title shot barring win over ‘Cowboy’
UFC president, Dana White has made it crystal clear. All Conor McGregor needs to do is beat Donald Cerrone at 170 pounds and he will earn a lightweight title shot against the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson.
Many fans were not happy as they thought Justin Gaethje deserved the title shot. But, according to White, Gaethje hasn’t been taking fights so Conor is next in line if he wins.
“Come on guys, Conor, look what Conor has done over the last however many years, right?,” White said to Brett Okamoto of ESPN. “Then he loses to Khabib, in a fight that was you know, when you talk about bad blood, that was like next level of bad blood. Gaethje was on his way up too. We’ve offered Gaethje a lot of fights that Gaethje hasn’t taken either. So, Conor is in line next for this fight if he beats ‘Cowboy’.”
Yet, many are confused as to why this fight is at welterweight then if it impacts the lightweight division. For Dana White, he says it is basically a lightweight fight where they don’t have to cut weight. And, he says he is preparing to be a backup for Khabib-Tony in case something happens.
“Because Conor wants to fight three times this year and he’s hoping that if he beats Cowboy, he can turn right around and fight Khabib,” White said. “That timing and math isn’t going to work out but you know Conor, Conor thinks the way Conor thinks. So his thing is, I’ll fight Cowboy, I’ll beat Cowboy, I’ll be ready to fight Khabib at 155 if anything happens. We’re going into Khabib-Tony again. So in Conor’s mind, Conor would be ready for that fight.”
So, it appears Conor McGregor just needs to beat Donald Cerrone and he will be getting his rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov assuming the Dagestani beats Tony Ferguson.
