On Saturday night, Conor McGregor made UFC history by knocking out Eddie Alvarez and becoming the first fighter to hold titles in two different weight classes simultaneously. It was an incredible, historic achievement and it may not even be the last one for him.
After defeating Alvarez, as McGregor in the cage with his newly won lightweight championship he was stunned to learn that the UFC had not prepared a second belt for him to pose with for his historic achievement. After making some fuss about it during the interview, UFC President Dana White showed up with a belt to hand to McGregor. It was later revealed that the second belt given to McGregor was UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley's, who loaned it to the UFC for the moment. When this was mentioned to McGregor in the post-fight press conference, he responded, "maybe that's a sign of things to come."
And it seems Woodley isn't opposed to the idea of giving McGregor the chance. In his own post-fight press conference, Woodley - who drew with Stephen Thompson in the co-main event - played it cagey about doing an immediate rematch with Thompson, especially if a McGregor fight is on the table.
"It was a tough fight. I thought I won the fight. I thought the fourth round, I believe when I almost had him finished, I thought they probably should have stopped the fight. I saw his eyes roll back. I was surprised they didn't stop it. It looks like in Eddie's fight they stopped it a little bit sooner than mine...
"Well unlike the last fight when I won the belt and I got 20 seconds to think about it and everybody wanted to see who I'm fighting immediately next, I think I deserve - many of you guys didn't pick me to win this fight, many of the crowd was against me. So I'm gonna talk to my management team and we're gonna see what's next for me. I don't know if Mr. McGregor wants to go for a third belt. It looked like he was talking a little noise in the back so we'll see. We'll see what happens."
Woodley has been angling for a big money fight since becoming welterweight champion - calling out Nick Diaz and Georges St-Pierre after his win at UFC 201 - and there is no bigger money fight in MMA history than Conor McGregor. It's the type of fight which also appeals to McGregor, who has never defended a world title he's won, always preferring to chase the next big conquest. And it's not like this is without some backstory. At the early morning weigh-ins on Friday, McGregor and Woodley had a tense staredown and subsequent Twitter exchange. Also, with the unprecedented amount of leverage he now holds over the UFC, McGregor is calling the shots now and can choose who he fights next.
But as much as it seems "The Chosen One" wants to be the next one chosen by McGregor, he also understands that it's not a win-win scenario for him.
"To be straight up honest, Conor McGregor is a guy that's fought at 145 - ever in his life. I haven't weighed 145 since my sophomore year in high school...I'm 100% positive he's never been hit wit the shots I'll hit him with... I just don't think Conor understands the pressure I can put on him, the power I can put on him, and all the different attacks. So i think it's good for media but in general I don't know how I can win. If I beat him, everyone will say I was supposed to beat him - he's a former featherweight. If I lose to him, obviously we know what's going to happen there."
But still, if McGregor wants the fight, Woodley says he's all for it.
"If he wants the fight, we can sign it right now. I'm good on the fight. I just don't think it's a good idea for him to fight me."
But there are still a lot of hurdles to making a fight like that, not the least of which is Dana White. McGregor is already catching some flack for holding up the featherweight division for the past year and for being allowed to jump the long line of lightweights. There's also currently a backlog of contenders at welterweight with Wonderboy and Demian Maia having been promised title shots so allowing McGregor to clog up three divisions could certainly cause problems and White may well want to avoid giving McGregor the opportunity for any additional leverage over the company. After all, White's already said he expects them to do an immediate rematch with Thompson.
But White has been wrong about many things before and if McGregor really wants to try for a third belt, it's hard to imagine he's denied that opportunity and the money it would bring. And if it does happen, Woodley has an idea for how to resolve the Thompson-Maia situation.
"I'm just gonna sit back, go back to the drawing board, talk to my management team, see what's important. Obviously this is a sport but it's also entertainment. If Conor McGregor wants to fight me, I think all you guys are going to want to see that fight. It's going to suck for Wonderboy and Maia because those guys feel like they deserve the shot but maybe they can fight each other in the meantime."
MUST-READ STORIES
205 Results. The biggest event in UFC history happened and you can see the results here.
Record breaking. According to Dana White, UFC 205 "broke every record in UFC history."
Always pulls out. Conor McGregor says he's unsure about a fight with "consistent pull-out merchant" Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Ownership. Conor McGregor demands stake in the UFC after historic win at UFC 205.
Fake contracts. Khabib Nurmagomedov told Dana White to stop sending him fake contracts.
Planning. Eddie Alvarez says he "didn't stick to the plan" versus Conor McGregor.
MEDIA STEW
Post-fight presser highlights.
Post Show.
Reaction video.
Interview w/ Conor's dad.
Retrospective on Patrick Cote.
Legacy 62 highlights.
LISTEN UP
BATB
6th Round
TWEETS
Impressive.
The champ champ pic.twitter.com/iprUKL0Ldx
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) November 13, 2016
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) November 13, 2016
Lol.
Romero is a habitual line crosser #UFC205
— Cub Swanson (@CubSwanson) November 13, 2016
So @YoelRomeroMMA can't speak English until I give him shit. All of a sudden he speaks better English than me! #cheatanywayyoucan
— michael (@bisping) November 13, 2016
Only thing you need to understand is #ynuevo (and new) https://t.co/GIFYCFpspC
— Yoel Romero (@YoelRomeroMMA) November 13, 2016
Thanks for all the love NY! Was a dream come true. Sorry to let u guys down. I'm ok and I'll be back. Love yah ! #UFCNYC
— Chris Weidman (@ChrisWeidmanUFC) November 13, 2016
Much respect to @MieshaTate keep ur head up and ur heart strong! Thanks for the fight and the words we shared in this moment. #sportsmanship pic.twitter.com/60sXkE0bN7
— Raquel Pennington (@RockyPMMA) November 13, 2016
Hey @FollowTheMenace i realized how strong spirit you have in you, thank you for the fight it was an honor to share the Octagon with you.
— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) November 14, 2016
Lol.
I see what I gotta do. Fuck that. Eddie is a fucking idiot.
— Kevin Lee (@MoTownPhenom) November 13, 2016
Barely any worse for wear.
Wracamy do domku pic.twitter.com/6VGvZW74jB
— KarolinaKowalkiewicz (@KarolinaMMA) November 13, 2016
Khabib ain't messing around.
Ever seen an angry @TeamKhabib? Be afraid. Be very afraid. @MeganOlivi chats w/ The Eagle #UFC205https://t.co/ht62AEQ93N
— UFC (@ufc) November 13, 2016
Great pic.
Que foto! Para ilustrar o tweet acima da coletiva de imprensa! #AMIZADE! #UFCpic.twitter.com/bk3hZBin4m
— #UFC205NoCombate (@TheUFCDay) November 13, 2016
Good read on the situation.
I said the 8th minute. I was off by 4 seconds. Seriously though, you'll never see a fighter do this again. I hope you took it all in ☝ pic.twitter.com/KASmzZdLh6
— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) November 13, 2016
.@YoelRomeroMMA doin' that victory dance like... #UFC205 pic.twitter.com/0ECvyhJX3I
— MSG (@TheGarden) November 13, 2016
First time I've ever seen his hair not spiked. And one would think on the moon it would be more inclined to spike.
These New Peach Flavored @Labrada_NTRN BCAA's are out of this World! #labradabcaa Nice Editing @shaunnorthcutt_ pic.twitter.com/1hpoG7rpqg
— Sage Northcutt (@sagenorthcutt) November 13, 2016
In the Ireland I gonna come party here Come on Irish ladies. pic.twitter.com/G5LvP2eR8E
— Teruto Ishihara (@teruto_ko) November 13, 2016
Give that man a title shot.
Cool.
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Donald Cerrone (31-7, 1 NC) vs. Matt Brown (20-15); UFC 206, December 10.
TODAY IN MMA HISTORY
2009: Randy Couture began the final winning streak of his career, earning a unanimous decision over Brandon Vera at UFC 105. In the co-main event Dan Hardy secured a title shot against Georges St-Pierre by winning a unanimous decision over Mike Swick.
FINAL THOUGHTS
McGregor did it and with style. That's damn impressive no matter who you are.
Great weekend of fights y'all. Hope this one is good too. Be easy y'all. See you tomorrow.
If you find something you'd like to see in the Morning Report, just hit me up on Twitter @JedKMeshew and let me know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram and add us on Snapchat at MMA-Fighting because we post dope things and you should enjoy them.