The winner of Frankie Edgar versus Jose Aldo gets the next featherweight crack at Conor McGregor. Max Holloway is screaming out for a title shot and soon we will have Anthony Pettis Showtime-kicking his hat into the ring.
McGregor has repeatedly declared that he single-handedly destroyed the 145lb division but there are definite signs of life.
MMA fans are baying for Edgar – a former lightweight champion – to get his fully deserved shot at ‘The Notorious’ but he has to get through former, long-time champ Jose Aldo at UFC 200. Holloway is on a nine-fight winning streak after defeating Ricardo Lamas at UFC 199.
Those three men are the top contenders for McGregor’s position atop the rankings but they now have company.
Former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis is dropping down a division and gunning for gold. Earlier Wednesday, ‘Showtime’ revealed that he was already in training to take the featherweight division by storm.
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Pettis claimed lightweight gold in 2013 after submitting Benson Henderson at UFC 164. He held onto the title for 18 months but his second defence saw him lose a unanimous decision to current champion Rafael dos Anjos.
He then went the distance but lost decisions to Edson Barboza and Eddie Alvarez. His lightweight ranking is currently No.7 but he will need to start accumulating victories to scale the featherweight ladder.
Pettis has spoken glowingly about McGregor in the past for ‘talking the talk then walking the walk’.
He offered to fight the Dubliner at UFC 196 when dos Anjos got injured but the UFC opted for Nate Diaz. At the time, Pettis said, “I was a little excited about it, but, there was easier opponents and easier guys for him to fight.”
