Winning two UFC belts might not be enough for Conor McGregor.
The Irishman beat then-light champion Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 to become the concurrent featherweight and lightweight champ and has hinted at pursuing the welterweight title in the past. McGregor was even temporarily handed Tyron Woodley’s 170 lbs belt when he beat Alvarez in the main event, perhaps hinting at sign of things to come.
Top-ranked welterweight contender Stephen Thompson, though, who fought champ Woodley to a draw on the same night McGregor beat Alvarez, thinks ‘The Notorious’ would get thrown around ‘like a little rag doll’.
“To be honest with you, Conor McGregor at 170, I think he’s just going to be thrown around like a little rag doll,” Thompson told Damon Martin of FOX Sports on the Fight Society podcast. “The weight class is just so much bigger. I didn’t expect Tyron to be as strong as he was. He’s a thick dude, short but think and very strong opponent.
“If that ever did happen, he’s going to have his hands full with Tyron, let me tell you that.”
McGregor has fought at 170 in the past, and is currently 1-1 against rival Nate Diaz. The SBG Ireland product was choked out by Diaz at UFC 196, but walked away with a majority decision in the back-and-forth rematch at UFC 202.
Thompson, 33, wouldn’t hesitate to fight McGregor if given the opportunity but says it’s a lose-lose situation.
“Are you kidding? Heck yeah,” Thompson said. “Anybody who fights McGregor is going to have a good payday. He’s one of the best guys in the UFC. He’s got two belts. You’re out there to fight the best guys, but it is kind of a lose-lose situation,” Thompson explained. “You go out there and you defeat Conor and everybody will be like ‘you should have beat him.’ What did you think was going to happen?
“But if you lose? So it’s a lose-lose situation to go out there and fight somebody like that.”
Thompson is expected to rematch ‘The Chosen One’ next year but, given McGregor’s star power and pay-per-view pull, the two-division champ could bypass Wonderboy altogether and make his case for a welterweight title shot.
