2016 was about Conor McGregor making history. Albeit short-lived, “The Notorious” became the UFC’s first simultaneous two-weight world champion when he stopped Eddie Alvarez to bag the 155-pound strap at UFC 205 last November 12th.
McGregor still holds the lightweight title, but his return date remains to be in question. And for Michael Chiesa, 2017 will not be as good to the Irishman as the previous year was.
“Conor is good, but I really don’t think he’s a true lightweight,” Chiesa said during his appearance on ESPN.com’s 5ive Rounds podcast. “That’s what I’m saying. With the landscape of this division, I don’t see Conor ending his year as champion. And you put me in there, I’m going to drag him to the ground and beat him too. I’m a huge lightweight. I’m as big as Nate or bigger, and we saw how many problems Nate gave him.”
With McGregor’s absence, top contenders Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson will be fighting for the interim lightweight strap at UFC 209 on March 4th. Against the two aforementioned names alone, Chiesa feels the odds are stacked against McGregor.
“Tony Ferguson and Khabib, you have to fight the winner of that fight,” Chiesa said. “I mean, dude, you’re good, but you’re going up against a guy who is 24-0, multiple sambo world champion, or a guy that would be on a 10-fight win streak.”
“Sooner or later, Conor is going to have to come out and fight. Whether he’s taking this hiatus himself or the company is putting him on ice, who knows? But I don’t see him staying champion.”
For his part, Chiesa says he is looking to return around late March or early April. He was scheduled to fight Tony Ferguson last July, but was forced out of the contest due to a back injury.