Conor McGregor, currently a two-division champion in Europe and one of MMA‘s brightest prospects, has signed with the UFC.
That’s according to Paul Dollery, press manager for Ireland’s Cage Warriors, McGregor’s current promotional home:
Dublin’s Conor McGregor signs with the UFC; will debut in Sweden in April. Best of luck @thenotoriousmma – superstar in the making #MMA
— Paul Dollery (@PaulDollery) February 7, 2013
McGregor (12-2) is currently on an eight-fight win streak. On New Year’s Eve at Cage Warriors 51, McGregor scored a one-punch knockout of Ivan Buchinger to capture the Cage Warriors lightweight title. He was already the promotion’s reigning featherweight champion.
All eight wins on his current streak came by stoppage, with seven coming by knockout or technical knockout. The other came by rear-naked choke and was also the only one to last into the second round.
It was not immediately clear which weight class McGregor would focus on for the UFC, though it is clear he would literally add punch to either the 155- or 145-pound divisions.
It was previously rumored that McGregor might have signed on to face featherweight bruiser Marcus Brimage at UFC on Fuel TV 9, taking place April 6 in Stockholm, Sweden. Brimage has some experience derailing hyped prospects, as he defeated previously undefeated judoka Jimy Hettes at UFC 152 in September.
As of Thursday morning, the UFC had not added the fight to its official fight card. That event will be headlined by a light heavyweight battle between Alexander Gustafsson and Gegard Mousasi.
McGregor’s path to contender status would likely be shorter and clearer at featherweight, as opposed to the deeper lightweight division. To add intrigue to the equation, McGregor has previously indicated he is willing to try his hand at welterweight as well.
The news was originally reported by MMA NYTT, a Swedish-language MMA website.
With a hat tip to Irish sports website The Score, embedded here is a video package of McGregor’s greatest hits.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com