‘The s**t’s about to hit the fan’: Conor McGregor hints at negotiation battle with UFC

AT UFC 202 Conor McGregor proved he’s one of the UFC‘s strongest competitors inside the Octagon.

And speaking to the media in the post-fight press conference he hinted that he’ll be every bit as competitive at the negotiating table when he sits down with the UFC’s top brass to discuss his next move.

McGregor is the reigning UFC featherweight champion, but the Dubliner hasn’t made a single defence of his belt since knocking out Brazilian star Jose Aldo in 13 seconds to win the unified title at UFC 194.

Since then McGregor’s attempt to become a two-weight champion went sour when the lightweight champion at the time, Rafael dos Anjos, pulled out of the fight with a damaged foot, sparking McGregor’s two-fight rivalry with Nate Diaz.

But now McGregor’s revenge mission has been successfully completed, talk turned to the Irishman’s next move and whether a switch to the 155lb lightweight division could spell the end of his championship reign at 145lbs.

UFC president Dana White said earlier in the week that McGregor would either drop down to defend his title in his next bout, or give up his title.

But McGregor says the UFC won’t force him to relinquish his belt.

WARNING: Video contains strong language

“I don’t think they’re gonna do that,” he said. “I mean, how can they do that?

“If they wanna do that – if they wanna give my belt to the guy I KO’d in 13 seconds and bury that division in the prelims or Fight Pass stuff, cause that’s what they’re gonna do – we’ll see.

“How can they do that? What would that do to the division if the guy I KO’d in 13 seconds is the unified champion?

But with McGregor now back in the win column and still the biggest star of the sport, the Dubliner hinted that he expects some hard negotiations to take place between him and the UFC in the coming weeks.

“We’ve got a lot to talk about,” he said.

“But I’m in a beautiful, beautiful position right now. And that was built through hard work and I’m gonna capitalise on that.

“There’s a lot of stuff in the pipeline. The s**t’s about to hit the fan, I feel. So we’ll see.”