The MMA world right now is wondering whether or not Conor McGregor will move up a weight class to the lightweight division to face 155-pound titleholder Rafael dos Anjos in a champion vs champion superfight. The outspoken Irishman captured the 145-pound gold at UFC 194 and vowed to conquer a second belt in his next fight.
Frankie Edgar, likely McGregor’s next challenger at featherweight, is obviously not a fan of the idea. Now Khabib Nurmagomedov, the injured long-time number-one contender at 155-pounds, shared his thoughts on the matter as well.
“I think, my opinion, [is that] Conor has to stay in featherweight division,” Nurmagomedov told Ariel Helwani during an episode of The MMA Hour. “Because, if he moves to lightweight, a lot of people will say, ‘Hey, you [haven’t done] everything in featherweight. Because you have one beef here. This is Frankie Edgar.’ And everyone agrees with me.”
“This is first. I think Conor needs to stay in [145] and fight for the title with Frankie.”
Nurmagomedov is the last man to beat lightweight champion Dos Anjos. The unbeaten 27-year old only seems to be his own worst enemy and suffered back-to-back injuries in training that kept him from competition for the last 20 months. Now, he finally eyes a comeback in March.