LAS VEGAS – If Conor McGregor gets past Dennis Siver on Jan. 18 in Boston, a grudge match with longtime featherweight champion Jose Aldo is up next.
And it could lead to the most ambitious stadium undertaking in UFC history.
“This fight in Boston, if he wins this fight, he’s going to fight for the title,” White told reporters Thursday at the MGM Grand.
It has been speculated, given the heated nature of the war of words between Aldo, who has been featherweight champion since winning what was then the WEC belt in 2009, that a McGregor-Aldo fight could headline an outdoor show in either McGregor’s homeland of Ireland or Aldo’s home country of Brazil.
Asked about McGregor’s assertion that he could sell out famed Dublin stadium Croke Park, White replied “Interesting. You know that place is a 90,000-seat arena?” When asked as a follow-up whether they’d consider the venue, he simply said “Yes.”
White, of course, knows what a volatile business the MMA game can be, and knows all this talk will be moot if Siver goes out and smokes McGregor in Boston.
“Everybody just assumes he’s going to run through Siver,” White said of McGregor. “Nobody thought he was going to beat [Dustin] Poirier, but now he’s just going to walk through Siver? I don’t ever f— count the chickens until they hatch, believe me, because anything can happen in this sport. So we’ll see what happens.”
McGregor’s title shot isn’t likely to sit well with other qualified contenders in the featherweight division. “What a joke!” Cub Swanson tweeted, in response to the news.