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Conor McGregor’s Style Likely To Trump Frankie Edgar’s Proven Track Record For Next UFC Featherweight Title Shot

By @RickLaFitte

Featherweight contender Conor McGregor during UFC 179 Fight Week festivities in Brazil

Getty Images

Of all the winners at this past weekend’s UFC Fight Night 57 event, the biggest beneficiary was likely a fighter who didn’t even compete on the Austin, Texas card. Irish star Conor McGregor now likely controls his own featherweight title destiny thanks to Frankie Edgar routing Cub Swanson in the main event clash.

The prevailing theory heading into that pivotal 145-pound encounter between the highly-ranked contenders was that Swanson would likely be next to face champion Jose Aldo if he could secure a seventh-straight win. “The Answer” derailed those plans with a relentless effort that eventually led to a fifth-round submission finish of Swanson.

The former UFC lightweight champ would be a very deserving next challenger for the Brazilian champion, but Edgar already had a failed title bid against Aldo at UFC 156. That seems to be a major strike against Edgar even though he’s won his last three fights and has never looked better. Edgar is campaigning hard for another shot, sending a direct request via Twitter to top UFC officials and looking to face Aldo again at UFC on FOX 15 in April in New Jersey.

With McGregor having the “It Factor” with his polarizing personality and string of knockouts, he’s very likely to get the next title shot with one more win. “The Notorious” is scheduled to square off against Dennis Siver in the main event of Fight Night 59 in Boston. He’s gone 4-0 in his UFC career and will be a major favorite against Siver. He’s coming off an impressive first-round stoppage of Dustin Poirier at UFC 178 that only added to his tremendous marketability.

The biggest criticism of McGregor’s rise to the top has stemmed from the fact that he hasn’t been matched up against an opponent with superior wrestling skills. A number of fans would love to see how he’d fare against the likes of Chad Mendes, Ricardo Lamas, Dennis Bermudez or Edgar before getting a title shot. Siver definitely won’t be the one to answer that question.

McGregor has been quite vocal about the fact that he’s targeting a title showdown against Aldo in 2015 at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. There was obviously a reason why he was brought to Brazil for UFC 179 fight week festivities to witness the Aldo-Mendes rematch. He engaged in a wild Q&A with hostile Brazilian fans, and it’s obvious a McGregor-Aldo clash would be a massive PPV event, wherever it is held.

The Dublin native’s rather cozy relationship with UFC President Dana White and co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta certainly won’t hurt his title case either. It appears as though he is the chosen one to be next in line against Aldo. All the talented, dynamic striker needs to do is take care of his own business and business will likely pick up between McGregor and Aldo.

If Siver can’t pull the upset, it seems a safe bet that despite a remarkable effort against Swanson, Edgar will still have some work to do in order to get one more chance at gold. For now, Jan.18 looms as a huge night in determining who will be the next 145-pound title challenger.

Rick LaFitte is an MMA Writer for Rant Sports

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