Anthony Pettis Calls Out Conor McGregor At Lightweight
Irish star Conor McGregor may have just won the interim featherweight title by defeating Chad Mendes two weeks ago at July 11’s UFC 189, but there’s already talk of ‘Notorious’ returning to his former home of 155 pounds due to the draining weight cut down to 145 pounds.
McGregor was once the Cage Warriors Fighting Championships (CWFC) lightweight champion in his native Ireland, and he’s already got a pair of high-profile potential opponents ready to face off with him should he make the move up to 155 pounds.
Joining his own former rival Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone, former UFC lightweight champion Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis declared that while his main goal is to regain the belt he lost to Rafael dos Anjos earlier this year, he would be willing to welcome the loudmouthed ‘Notorious’ into the lightweight fray during last night’s (Sat., July 25, 2015) UFC on FOX 16 post-fight show:
“Man, what’s next for me, getting my belt back. This guy that beat me last has my belt, I want that back, so that’s the big thing in my mind right now. But Conor McGregor, I heard he’s moving up to ’55 so I’ll welcome him into one of the hardest weight classes for sure.”
McGregor is obviously on a collision course with longtime featherweight champ Jose Aldo, where they will hopefully unify the belts at some point in the relatively near future. Pettis may have his mind on the belt, but with champion Rafael dos Anjos still injured and not slated to return against Cerrone until December at the soonest, ‘Showtime’s’ shot at the belt could be quite some time off.
A bout with McGregor could certainly fill that time admirably, but nothing has been even close to confirmed for ‘Notorious’’ trek back to lightweight. If it is, however, a showdown with ‘Showtime’ could be quite the pay-per-view (PPV) spectacle.
Will we see the Irishman headed for huge bouts in the lightweight division soon?
