Michael Bisping believes there is a good chance Conor McGregor gets a lightweight title shot upon his return.
McGregor is currently rehabbing the broken leg he sustained in his trilogy match against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. During his time off, however, he has taken shots at Charles Oliveira, and the Irishman has said he would fight the Brazilian next. The champ has also expressed interest in that fight. And if McGregor does get the next title shot, Bisping believes lightweights can’t blame anyone but themselves.
“A lot of people inside the top 15, top 5, top 10 they’re gonna say, ‘What the f**k is happening? Why is Conor McGregor getting to skip the line?’ Well, guess what? As I said, this is prizefighting, this is pay-per-views, this is the UFC, and they put on the fights, historically that we want to see, okay?” Bisping said on his YouTube channel.
“The fights that we want to see, they are the fights the UFC put up. So, if you’re not happy that Conor McGregor might get to skip the line and fight the champion when he’s not even ranked, don’t blame Conor McGregor, don’t blame Dana White, don’t blame the UFC, blame your-f**king-self because you are ultimately responsible.”
Although Bisping says McGregor is unranked, that is not true. He is ranked ninth but he still is well outside the top-five, which is generally where you need to be to get a title shot. However, even when Bisping fought Dan Henderson for the belt, Henderson was ranked 10th, so we have seen this before. Additionally, Georges St-Pierre was also unranked at middleweight when he defeated Bisping for the title at UFC 217.
McGregor is the biggest star in MMA history and draws a ton of pay-per-views, so financially it does make sense for the UFC to put the Irishman in the title fight, even if he is on a two-fight losing skid.
Do you think Conor McGregor should get the next lightweight title shot?
