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After Jose Aldo's win over Chad Mendes, should the UFC be making the fight with Conor McGregor as soon as possible, or give the next shot to the Frankie Edgar vs. Cub Swanson winner? Why?
DAN MOORE, MMATORCH UK COLUMNIST
If Cub Swanson convincingly beats Frankie Edgar next month, he deserves the next title fight, irrespective of what Conor McGregor does against Dennis Siver. Admittedly the money fight is undoubtedly Aldo vs. McGregor, but it's not like it'll ever do over a million pay-per-view buys. For me it can wait until next summer or even later, because it's still going to be a big deal. Edgar comes in a distant third on my list because he's had more title shots than I've had hot dinners, one of which came in defeat to Aldo only 20 months ago.
FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
I think the winner of Edgar vs. Swanson should get the next title shot. I think Swanson especially is much more deserving. I also think this gives McGregor a chance to make more waves in the cage. Going from fighting the guys he's beaten all the way up to fighting Aldo is like going straight to the NBA fro high school. It's certainly possible that McGregor could be successful, but the most likely scenario would be that Aldo whoops him. That's not a shot at McGregor, it's more a point about how good Aldo is. Aldo has been in the cage with many great fighters, and he made them all look not so great. Aldo is in a whole other league from the guys McGregor has beaten. I would be more on board with McGregor getting the shot if the alternative wasn't the Swanson-Edgar winner. I think either of those guys has the resume to get the shot himself instead.
TOM STRONG, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR
With McGregor now signed up to face Dennis Siver in Boston in January 2015, I think we can safely assume the winner of Swanson vs Edgar will be next in line to face Jose Aldo for the Featherweight Title.
If this is the case, it's the right thing to do. McGregor hasn't done enough yet to earn the chance to fight for the title, though that's never stopped the UFC before. How many times before have we seen a fighter jump into a title shot on the back of trash talk!
That's not to say McGregor isn't far away from a title shot, as he's close. Still, for me, he has to beat more fighters of note, and quite frankly, Dennis Siver isn't that!
CASH NORMAN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
I think the UFC wants more buzz behind Conor McGregor before they put him into a fight with Jose Aldo, and that's the reason they have him fighting Dennis Siver beforehand. McGregor will be headlining a card in Boston against Siver; this is not be accident, the UFC is staging an event. McGregor received a great reception the last time he was in Boston by all the Irish American fans when he was only fighting on the preliminary card. If once again he can knock out an opponent in the first round on free TV with Irish Americans in the background to support their guy, he has a possibility of gaining greater exposure.
It just may work. I have a coworker who is a casual fan, and the only people he knows in the UFC are Jon Jones, Ronda Rousey, and now Conor McGregor. Promotion sells fights, and since the UFC now has a personality in Conor McGregor, one whom is willing to do the heavy lifting, they seem to be willing to assist him. How well McGregor does in his fight (in terms of viewership), and how well Cub Swanson and Frankie Edgar do in their matchup, will determine who faces Jose Aldo next.
The only person who has a legitimate gripe that they should be facing Jose Aldo is Cub Swanson. Swanson is on a six fight win streak against higher quality opponents than Dennis Bermudez, who's on a seven fight win streak, and Frankie Edgar, who barely beat Charles Oliviera before thrashing B.J. Penn.
I almost feel as the UFC set up Swanson to fail against Edgar, so they could pave a way for Conor McGregor to have the next fight with Jose Aldo. If you look at it they've put a very beatable opponent before McGregor, and a very tough stylistic matchup in front of Swanson. If you don't believe me in media scrums when Dana was asked why McGregor should get the title fight, he has stated Aldo has beaten all the top contenders at featherweight outside of McGregor.
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