– Niall Kelly reports from the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas
CONOR MCGREGOR PLANS to defend his UFC featherweight title the next time he steps into the Octagon, but he’s not sure whether that fight should be against Jose Aldo or Frankie Edgar.
McGregor was stunned in his welterweight debut at UFC 196 on Saturday night as Nate Diaz forced him to tap out in the final minute of the second round.
“I’m not cut, I’m simply heartbroken,” a humbled McGregor said in his post-fight press conference.
After suffering his first defeat in the UFC, and his first in more than five years, the Notorious will consider his options but insisted that a fight on the landmark UFC 200 card in July is still a live possibility.
Aldo, who lost the featherweight title when McGregor KOd him in 13 seconds last December, immediately put out the call for a rematch.
“See ya at UFC 200,” he tweeted at McGregor.
Your fairy tale is over. You got nowhere to run now. Time to a rematch, pussy.
McGregor indicated that he will defend the 145lbs strap next but said he hasn’t given up his dream of making history as the first man to hold belts at two weights.
That could lead to a tasty rematch with Diaz down the line, with Saturday’s shock winner now in the frame for a shot at Rafael dos Anjos’s lightweight crown.
“I know there’s a lot of people celebrating this in the featherweight division,” McGregor said.
“There are many people celebrating another man’s victory. It’s something that I cannot understand, how somebody not involved can celebrate another man’s victory.
At the end of the day, I am the featherweight world champion. I feel it is right to go back down and remind them of what I achieved and what I did to that division.
“But I am not forgetting about the 155lbs division, I am certainly not forgetting about the 170lbs division.”
In the build-up to Saturday’s fight, McGregor spoke about how much easier his preparations had been at the higher weight, but he said there is no concern about him dropping the 25lbs to fight at featherweight again.
“145 is a cut, it’s intense, but I make it and I make it every time. I think 145 will be next. I will defend my belt.
“I believe maybe Nate will fight dos Anjos now. I think after I defend myself and climb myself back up I will get the shot at the lightweight belt again. Maybe me and Nate can do it again.”
Asked who his preferred opponent would be for his next defence, McGregor leaned towards Aldo over Edgar — but he branded the Brazilian a loser.
“It’s hard to not give Aldo another go,” he said. “He was 10 years undefeated but he pulls out a lot, he doesn’t show up a lot. Frankie at least gets in there and competes.
“I don’t know (who the opponent should be). I’ll keep my ear to the ground and see who the fans want to see the most, what do they fans want to see.
“But then I’ll sit and wait patiently for the lightweight belt to be contested.
Regarding Aldo’s gloating tweet, he added: “He had an opportunity to show up here and he didn’t. He could be sitting where Nate is sitting right now.
He was the first choice. He said any time, any place, anywhere and it wasn’t any time, any place, anywhere.
“Now another man gets a victory over me and he celebrates it. That’s a sign of a loser. That’s the sign of a runner-up. That’s not the sign of a champion.”
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