Where do you rank a former lightweight and featherweight champion who went three years without a victory and then returned to fight at welterweight?
The person in question, of course, is not just any old fighter, but the biggest star in all of mixed martial arts, [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag]. If we have to actually go ahead and tell you at the point that he defeated Donald Cerrone via TKO in just 40 seconds on Saturday at UFC 246, then we can only assume you’ve never watched MMA in your life and somehow stumbled on this site by accident.
What’s clear coming out of McGregor’s steamroller of a victory is that he can now pick his spot and take whatever fight captures his fancy next. Jorge Masvidal? Kamaru Usman? Nate Diaz? The winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson? Floyd Mayweather (shudder)?
Mystic Mac has many money matchups to choose from.
But what this means for the rankings is something else entirely. Due to inactivity, McGregor had long since slid out of the pound-for-pound rankings and down the lightweight ladder.
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After winning at welterweight? Well, Cerrone’s not a top-level 170er, and McGregor has not yet committed to any future welterweight bouts. And all the noise UFC president Dana White has made has indicated he’s trying to steer McGregor toward a lightweight title shot.
With that, we’re putting the emphasis on lightweight. With the win, McGregor shoots up to No. 4 at lightweight, up from No. 13 last time out.
Beyond a much-needed win for Holly Holm at bantamweight, there wasn’t much noteworthy, rankings-wise, coming out of UFC 246 aside from McGregor’s victory. But if you want to see where your favorite — or least favorite — fighter places in the rankings, you can check them out division-by-division in the drop-down menu above.
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