Ultimate Fighting Championship president, Dana White, believes Conor McGregor deserves a title shot if he wins against Donald Cerrone.
Returning from over a year of fighting hiatus, ‘The Notorious’ from Ireland will take on fellow fan-favourite, Donald Cerrone, in the headliner of UFC 246 on January 18, 2020.
McGregor is looking to recover from his disappointing loss last October 2018 to get back on title-contention.
According to recent reports, the Irishman sets his sights on a pair of welterweight fights including a showdown with BMF titlist Jorge Masvidal before facing Khabib Nurmagomedov in a rematch.
In a surprising admission, White said McGregor may book the next lightweight title shot if both him and Khabib win their respective assignments.
Looking At A Rematch
The outspoken UFC chief recently claimed that a rematch between Khabib and Conor could be in the works if the Russian defends his title against Tony Ferguson while ‘The Notorious’ beats ‘Cowboy.’
“It’s done. That deal is done. That is happening on January 18 here in Las Vegas,” he told BT Sport.
“That fight is done, it’s happening.”
“If Conor can get through Cowboy and Khabib can get through Tony then we’d be looking at a rematch between Conor and Khabib down the line here pretty soon.”
The comments made by White drew criticisms from some MMA fans and UFC stars, saying the Irishman should climb his way up to the rankings to earn another shot at the 155-pound title.
Paul Felder, who is currently the sixth-ranked lightweight, wants McGregor out of the rankings or at least take him down to give way to other higher ranked fighters such as Justin Gaethje.
Next In Line
White has defended his decision and said McGregor has done enough in the past year to be deserving of the rematch.
The UFC president also urged fans not to count Cerrone out as he will be a tough test for the former two-weight champion.
“First of all, let’s not count ‘Cowboy’ out,” White told Brett Okamoto.
“Come on guys, Conor, I mean look what McGregor has done over the last however many years, right?”
“And 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.”
“You know Gaethje is 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 title if he beats ‘Cowboy’.”
(Featured Image Source: YouTube/MMA Fighting On SBN and Instagram/ Conor McGregor)