Opinion: The Conor Conundrum and Unclogging the Featherweight Division

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The announcement that Nate Diaz was replacing Rafael dos Anjos and facing Conor McGregor at UFC 196 on March 5 was met with great enthusiasm from fight fans. It’s a fight between two guys who have no filter, and that certainly makes for great promotion despite it taking place on such short notice.

With the fight being contested at 170 pounds -- a two-division jump for McGregor -- it certainly does present some problems for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s featherweight division. Sitting at the top and twiddling his thumbs is Frankie Edgar, who most assumed would likely get his well-deserved shot at the 145-pound title at UFC 200. However, now those title aspirations are getting smaller and smaller as McGregor drives towards greener pastures in higher weight classes.

Should McGregor get past Diaz, chances are that he will either compete for the welterweight title that Robbie Lawler currently holds or fight for the lightweight title, with the match against dos Anjos being rebooked for UFC 200. If we are to assume that McGregor were somehow able to pull off the feat of claiming a title in another weight class, it’s highly likely that he’ll fight for a championship in a third division toward the end of the year. That leaves the featherweight title undefended for a year. That also leaves Edgar and Jose Aldo with nothing to do as they both claim they deserve the next title shot. Not to mention that Max Holloway is creeping up on a title shot sooner than later.

If McGregor is tied up making history, what is the UFC supposed to do? It’s difficult to see McGregor winning the welterweight title and somehow managing to get back down to 145 pounds to defend his featherweight crown against Edgar. Honestly, it sounds ridiculous. That doesn’t mean McGregor won’t try to do it, though. The problem is that entire divisions are being held up because of McGregor’s run at making history. It’s not his fault. If he’s able to pull it off, what can we say? However, the UFC is going to have to figure out something in the interim because guys like Edgar fight for money. If they aren’t fighting, they aren’t making money.

One remedy is an interim featherweight title match at UFC 200 between Edgar and Aldo (or Holloway, if Aldo decides to jump to lightweight). The winner would hold the title and be installed as full champion if McGregor doesn’t defend by early 2017, which still seems like an eternity away. The problem with this is that you cannot possibly make up the financial windfall that comes with facing McGregor by pitting these guys against each other. McGregor has become the UFC’s biggest draw, and the compensation that comes with a fight against him can be nearly life-changing, especially if he continues to mow down the competition like he has over the past couple of years.

Alas, you can’t have it all and you can’t deny McGregor’s opportunity to become great. It’s a small window that the Irishman is peeking through, and he’s ready to make the run now before his body simply cannot deal with the weight cuts and he’s forced to hold still in a division; either that or he ends up like Roy Jones Jr., who won the heavyweight championship in boxing and moved back down to light heavyweight, where he was drained and drilled by Antonio Tarver. There simply needs to be something done for someone like Edgar who remains one of the best fighters in the UFC despite never having been a massive draw. He deserves another shot at featherweight gold. It simply may not be against McGregor -- yet.

Who knows? Perhaps this conversation is all for nothing. If McGregor loses to Diaz, he gets sent back to the division where he holds a world title. All it takes is one loss to upend this road to history. There will be no justification for McGregor to get an immediate title opportunity against Lawler should he lose to Diaz on short notice. It will also be interesting to see how dos Anjos is booked if McGregor loses and the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov-Tony Ferguson is waiting in the wings. Surely, you cannot allow McGregor to leapfrog one of them after a loss, right?

You never know. This is Conor McGregor’s world, and the rest of us -- including the UFC -- are just living in it.

Andreas Hale is a content producer for Jay Z’s LifeandTimes.com and editor-in-chief of PremierWuzHere.com, as well as a frequent Sherdog.com columnist. Check out his archive here.