UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and UFC Interim Lightweight Champion Justin Gaethje are expected to meet in a title unification bout later this year.
Former two division UFC champion Conor McGregor has yet to announce his next move and UFC President Dana White believes McGregor should wait until after the title unification bout before doing so.
“I think the best thing for him, I’m not saying this is what’s going to happen, but in my opinion, he lets this Gaethje-Khabib fight play out and he fights the winner,” White said on Eddie Hearn & Tony Bellow’s Talk The Talk podcast (via Cole Shelton of BJPenn.com). “I think that’s the smartest move for him. But, you know him, maybe he wants to fight before that and if he does, we can figure something out. I think that is the move for him right now.”
McGregor hasn’t competed at lightweight since UFC 229 and he hasn’t won a fight in the weight class since UFC 205 in November of 2016. Nurmagomedov and McGregor have met once before at UFC 229, which Nurmagomedov won via fourth round submission, while Gaethje and McGregor have yet to fight.
