UFC featherweight king Conor McGregor rankled some fighters with his proclamation that he wants to jump weight classes and challenge for the lightweight title. Among the offended was former 155-pound champ Anthony Pettis, who two weeks ago told the Herald it was “definitely annoying” that McGregor was poised to cut in line. Pettis said he was told at the bargaining table that a win over Eddie Alvarez next Sunday at TD Garden would ensure him the next title shot.
UFC president Dana White — who last week breathed oxygen into the idea of McGregor moving up — said Pettis wins either way if he can beat Alvarez.
“It doesn’t matter, if (McGregor) decided to go to 155 and do that, it would still work out for Pettis,” White told the Herald last week ahead of Sunday’s Fox Sports 1 UFC card in his native Boston. “If you’re Pettis, who would you want to fight? Wouldn’t you rather have a possibility of a fight with Conor? Imagine a Conor/Pettis fight. It would be ridiculous.”
While certainly appealing from a box office perspective, that route would rob Pettis of a chance to avenge his title loss against champ Rafael dos Anjos. But dos Anjos wants McGregor, and White, who typically frowns on a fighter abandoning a division as champion, seems on board.
“Well, normally you’d say no, you’d give (the title) up or whatever. But Conor’s talking like, ‘I would defend both (belts) twice a year,’ ” White said. “And let me tell you what, Conor has always done what he says he would do, and the guy likes money, so . . . it’s not favoritism. This kid’s done literally everything he said he would do.”
Another fighter who would be rankled by a shuffled deck is top featherweight contender Frankie Edgar, who’s been hungry for a shot at McGregor. He is on a five-fight tear, and just put away top contender Chad Mendes via first-round KO, an opponent against whom McGregor struggled before landing a winning flurry with three seconds left in the second round.
White said Edgar is not out of the “Fight McGregor Next” sweepstakes.
“Frankie’s in there, you know,” White said. “Depends on what Conor does. Is Conor going to move to (1)55? Is he going to stay at (1)45? If he left and vacated, then him and — it would probably be Frankie vs. Jose (Aldo). We’ll see.”
The Boston launchpad
McGregor catapulted to his prime position after the last time the UFC was in Boston. Last January, the Irishman dispatched Dennis Siver in a scintillating main event at the Garden. After his win, McGregor hopped the cage and mean-mugged then-champ Aldo, who he eventually knocked out in just 13 seconds when they met last month.
That event, broadcast on Fox Sports 1 with a main card that started just after the Patriots beat the Colts to clinch the AFC championship, did record ratings, and was promoted steadily during Fox’ NFL playoff coverage. The McGregor fight did more than three million viewers, among the largest TV audiences the UFC can muster.
Next Sunday, the beneficiaries of this spotlight will be bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw and former champ Dominick Cruz, the headliners in a long-anticipated title fight. White said to expect more of the same promotional push for the two underexposed elites.
“We’ll end up doing the same thing, we’ll be in the NFL somehow,” White said, adding the UFC is still working with Fox Sports on that. “If you can expose two guys like this in a fight that you know will be this good, in front of millions of people, especially during the NFL, too, it’s always a home run.”
White laughs off reactions
White touched on a number of other hot topics in his interview with the Herald.
Close observers were abuzz when UFC co-owner Frank Fertitta was spotted on the UFC 194 telecast, slamming the featherweight belt on a table right after McGregor knocked out Aldo in record time. Was there angst, fans wondered, over how much bargaining leverage McGregor — who’s said he wants a “nine-figure” contract — had just landed?
White laughed at the notion.
“Frank Fertitta is a (expletive) moose, OK? He’ll flip tables over and everything else,” White said. “It wasn’t anything negative or positive. It was just his reaction to Jose Aldo getting knocked out in one punch, you know?” . . .
White told Fox Sports last week that UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm, who dropped jaws with her head-kick knockout of Ronda Rousey in November, will have a fight before a Rousey rematch. He sounded a different tone, though, when later asked by the Herald, if heir apparent Miesha Tate will get the shot against Holm.
“God, I just — for that rematch not to happen first would just be such a (expletive) tragedy,” White said of Holm-Rousey II. “And let me tell you what, Miesha’s a tough fight for her. So I don’t know, we’ll see.”
As for Rousey, White said she is “in a good place” after her first loss, which went viral and was one of the most replayed sports highlights of 2015.
“She doesn’t seem like she is because she’s just sort of hiding out right now from the media, but she’s in a good place,” White said. . . .
Rousey hosts “Saturday Night Live” on Jan. 23.
