With a Win Over Aldo, UFC Will Have to Make Frankie vs. McGregor at MSG

Both Frankie Edgar and Jose Aldo got their wishes of a featherweight title fight at UFC 200 on July 9, but they won't be fighting the man that actually holds the belt.

Conor McGregor will take on Nate Diaz in the main event of the marquee event at welterweight instead, which probably caused UFC to establish an interim title for Edgar and Aldo to contest for.

All the talk of a return to featherweight after his first loss in the Octagon to Diaz on March 5 has been thrown to the wayside. For a fight that was simply filler for the withdrawal of Rafael Dos Anjos and his lightweight title at UFC 196, the announcement of the rematch a couple of days ago was met with some criticism.

And it's not that people won't watch it, of course they will. It just doesn't seem to make sense to continue to put the featherweight bracket on hold while it's champion experiments at new weight classes. The UFC are in danger of losing control of their promotion to one of their leading stars and Dana White's comments on the announcement of the bout seem to support that.

According to the UFC president, the company's top brass and McGregor's head coach tried to get the Irishman to return to his featherweight stomping ground. When they failed to persuade him, he simply got his wish.

White told ESPN: "After the fight, Lorenzo and I went up to Conor's house that he was renting here in Las Vegas and started talking about, 'what are you thinking, what's next?' And he was obsessed. Obsessed with fighting Nate Diaz again.

"Obviously, Lorenzo and I tried to argue with him and say let's go back down to 145 and defend your title, or if you really want the Diaz fight that bad, do it at 155. And he wants to fight at 170. Even his coach, Coach Kavanagh, tried to get him to get off this rematch and off the 170-pound fight, but it's what he wanted."

Mark Henry has been vocal about his frustration at McGregor getting a second crack at Diaz instead of a first meeting with one of his proponents, Edgar. We reported earlier in the week that Henry felt a title vacation would be more likely than a bout between McGregor and Edgar. Even after the announcement of the interim title fight the striking coach seems disappointed with the outcome.

For Henry, the fact that interim title will be contested despite the champion of the division fighting on the same card is "laughable".

"Yeah that's reasonable that Jose Aldo is the champion for over 10 years and Conor McGregor is fighting Nate Diaz for a 170 meaningless fight because he got whooped in the second round," said Henry on Irish radio station, Newstalk.

"I believe that the fight that should have happened was Frankie right after at this past fight that Conor had and the next fight should have been Aldo fighting the winner of Frankie and Conor. But it's gone the way it's gone. It's a total disaster.

"You have the 145-pound champion fighting the same day as the 145-pound interim and the champion's healthy. It's just a joke. It's laughable. It makes everything sound ridiculous."

Madison Square Garden

McGregor is one of the key needle movers of the promotion, and it makes sense to a certain extent that he gets accommodated, but UFC cannot deny Edgar if he claims a win in his second bout with Aldo.

Edgar is the man that's held aloft above all of McGregor's numerous rivals as the one who would provide the featherweight champion with his trickiest test at 145 lbs. Although Diaz has taken some of the mystery away by defeating the Dubliner, who could scoff at the prospect of 'The Answer' meeting 'The Notorious' at Madison Square Garden to help UFC announce their arrival in New York?

Lorenzo Fertitta insisted that the promotion would be putting on a massive card in the historic venue when they eventually put on a show there. McGregor's place at the top of the UFC 200 card confirms his seat at the high table, and regardless of the outcome of his bout with Diaz, people will definitely want to see him face off with the former lightweight champion.

Ball in McGregor's Court if Victorious

If people think 'The Notorious' is getting too many of wishes granted by his employers, they should be prepared for things to get worse if he beats Diaz. While the rematch is a massive risk, McGregor will be celebrated more than ever should he take the win over Diaz.

Let's not forget all the talk of Robbie Lawler being next on the SBG fighter's hit list after UFC 196. With the power that he clearly has over the most influential people in the sport, it is guaranteed that a potential date with the welterweight champion will be the first thing on McGregor's mind.

His business mind is undeniable and in his world the more options that are on the table, the better the situation. Yet, for Edgar to be denied again would only lead to further speculation by the many people that believe McGregor is consciously trying to avoid him.