Conor McGregor is more than willing to continue fighting at welterweight.
The former two-division champion returned to action at UFC 246 on Saturday night as he defeated Donald Cerrone via first-round TKO. In the process, he became the first fighter to hold knockout wins in three different divisions.
Most of the attention now turns to who his next opponent will be. UFC president Dana White seems to believe a rematch with lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov makes the most sense.
However, most fans would love the prospect of McGregor facing Jorge Masvidal next. There’s a chance at more gold with a potential title bout against welterweight champion Kamaru Usman as well.
White was previously not a fan of McGregor fighting at 170 pounds and was also against him facing Masvidal as he felt the latter was too big for him. That sparked a fire under McGregor’s belly who has since expressed an interest in proving White wrong.
And after defeating Cerrone — who notably stands at 6-foot-1 and likely cut a bit of weight to make 170 pounds — the Irishman remains confused by White’s comments regarding Masvidal being too big for him.
“Of course, let’s do it then,” McGregor said at the post-fight press conference of potentially facing Masvidal or Usman. “I’m more than ready. I enjoy this division. I like this division.
“I don’t think they’re that big. They’re a bit bigger, right? Okay. I think Donald is bigger than Jorge. I know Jorge has a win over Donald. I think Donald’s as big. Jorge’s a former lightweight so I don’t know what Dana was saying. I’d like to see them on the scales right now tonight and see where they’re at. At the end of the day, we got to weigh 170. I feel good at 170.”
It’s fair to say that Cerrone is bigger than Masvidal and McGregor had no problem dealing with that extra size as showcased by his quick 40-second win. Not to mention, he also holds a win over Nate Diaz in the weight class as well.
Regardless of what’s next, McGregor is open to continuing fighting at welterweight.
“I hold a couple of nice wins in this division now,” he added. “We’ll see what happens. I’m open.”
