Conor McGregor’s Christmas wish about to come true?

It’s not unfair to say that 2021 was not Conor McGregor’s best year. The former double champion went 0-2, with the latter loss ending with a shattered shin and a bad taste in his mouth. Having been sidelined since UFC 264, McGregor has only been able to sit, watch and speak about the lightweight division.

However, it looks like this is about to change…

After back-to-back wins over McGregor, former interim champion Dustin Poirier was next in line for a shot at lightweight gold. His opponent would be newly-crowned king Charles Oliveira, who hoisted the title away from Michael Chandler in an instant classic vacant title bout. Riding high, Poirier went into UFC 269 with buckets of confidence.

Though he put forth a spirited effort, ultimately, it wasn’t meant to be for Poirier. The challenger was submitted in the third round by Oliveira, who retained the title and extended his growing win-streak. Poirier took the loss graciously and is now eyeing-up a 2022 bout with Nate Diaz at 170lbs.

So, where does that leave the champion? As most of us presumed, former interim titleholder Justin Gaethje was given the nod from UFC brass to be the next challenger for the belt. Arizona’s Gaethje came up short in his undisputed title bid in 2020, but rebounded with a ‘Fight of The Year’ performance against Michael Chandler at UFC 268.

If not Gaethje, rising contenders Islam Makhachev and Beneil Dariush are set to fight in February in a title eliminator. Both men are riding win-streaks with good names on their records. The winner of that bout will undoubtedly be up for a shot at the belt.

All of that information, of course, begs the question – who will be next for Oliveira? The answer is: none of them. Well, if things go according to the champion’s plan, it’ll be none of the names that have been mentioned above. If you haven’t already guessed it, Oliveira is currently peititioning for a 2022 title fight with Conor McGregor.

Despite having lost 2-straight, McGregor is dead certain that he will fight for the title upon his return. Though he’s the biggest star in MMA, no one really expected his starpower to outshine the fact he’s currently undeserving of a crack at the belt. The losing streak didn’t seem to phase Oliveira, however.

Speaking to press, the champ said, “May would be a wonderful date. Conor challenged me asking a date, and tweeted Ireland vs. Brazil 2. Not only him, but also myself and all the world wants to see that fight. So, let’s make it happen. I´m waiting for him in May. It may be at lightweight, welterweight or middleweight, with my title on the line or not. Just choose and I´ll be ready.”

Should McGregor be unable to take the fight, Oliveira would be willing to take a fight against Gaethje, but the Irishman is his top priority for a potnetial May date in Brazil.

“Gaethje was knocked out by Poirier, who I just submitted. He was almost knocked out by Chandler, who I beat via TKO, but I’m a UFC employee,” he said. “If they choose that I should fight Gaethje next, I’ll be ready too.”

With McGregor being the one who instigated the callouts, it’s fair to assume that he will take the fight if offered to him. The question lies in whether or not he will actually be given the shot to him.

We all know that McGregor has been given his fair share of Dana White Privilege (preferential treatment) over the course of his UFC tenure. This ranges from allowing him to hold up divisions by not defending his titles to arguably undeserved title opportunities against Eddie Alvarez and Khabib Nurmagomedov. In those cases, however, each action was – at least – somewhat justifiable. Now, sat at #9 in the rankings, having lost 3 of his 4, it seems ridiculous to give McGregor a shot at the title.

At the end of the day, it genuinely is anyone’s guess as to if we’ll see McGregor competing for a title straight off the bat. All supposed rules in MMA go out the window when it comes to ‘The Notorious‘.

If we can say one thing with certainty – a title shot is most definitely on McGregor’s Christmas wishlist this year.