UFC boss speaks out on next Conor McGregor fight: 'I think that’s the smartest move...'

The lightweight division has for a long time been seen as the most talent rich weight class in MMA. It’s hard to dispute that when one thinks of the long list of world-class lightweight fighters in the division. Khabib Nurmagomedov currently reigns as UFC lightweight champion, with Justin Gaethje as interim champ at the moment. With those two tentatively scheduled to lock horns that begs the question: What’s the next fight for Conor McGregor?

If you ask UFC president Dana White, McGregor’s best move is to wait his turn. In a recent guest appearance on a podcast, White revealed that he feels the smartest thing for McGregor to do is sit out and then face the winner of Nurmagomedov vs Gaethje.

“I think the best thing for him, I’m not saying this is what’s going to happen, but in my opinion, he lets this Gaethje-Khabib fight play out and he fights the winner,” White said on Eddie Hearn & Tony Bellow’s Talk The Talk podcast. “I think that’s the smartest move for him. But, you know him, maybe he wants to fight before that and if he does, we can figure something out. I think that is the move for him right now.”

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Currently McGregor sits on the #4 spot in the UFC lightweight rankings, with Gaethje at the number one contender spot. The only fighters ahead of McGregor in the rankings are Tony Ferguson and Dustin Poirier – Both of whom are coming off losing title fights.

Welterweights Jorge Masvidal and Kamaru Usman have both challenged McGregor recently. While McGregor is coming off of a win, a first round TKO of Donald Cerrone, that fight took place at welterweight. Due to this there has been criticism levied at the UFC rankings and McGregor’s placement. As the rankings stand though, McGregor is a logical contender for the winner of Nurmagomedov vs Gaethje.