Conor McGregor (19-2) will be making his Welterweight debut on Saturday against Nate Diaz (18-10) at UFC 196 in Las Vegas. Diaz will come into the fight as the taller and lengthier fighter (six-feet tall, 76-inch reach). While this is McGregor’s first ever fight at 170 pounds, Diaz has been fighting at both 155 and 170 pounds throughout his MMA career.
The Stockton product is 2-2 at Welterweight in the UFC. The Irishman made an unprecedented move by moving up two whole weight classes and will be fighting a much taller and presumably bigger fighter when competes against Nate Diaz. If McGregor wins on Saturday night, will he fight Robbie Lawler for the Welterweight title afterwards?
UFC welterweight Matt Brown believes so. He recently said on the Last Great MMA Debate podcast that he is the money man.
“If Conor beats Nate, there’s no reason he shouldn’t be able to fight for whatever title he wants. He’s the money man.”
It would be tough for the UFC to deny McGregor a shot at the welterweight title with the amount of attention and revenue he brings to the promotion.
On a fighting standpoint too, Rafael Dos Anjos is out with a broken foot and Frankie Edgar has a torn groin. There is still no date yet as to when those two would be available to compete. So if McGregor has to pause from both featherweight and lightweight, the welterweight title fight makes sense next. Conor McGregor’s coach even said that he would like to see “Mystic Mac” go up to fight for the 170 pound title.
But first things first, McGregor has a tough task ahead of him in Nate Diaz before he considers a shot at the 170 pound belt.
