Michael Bisping doesn’t rank Conor McGregor too highly among the featherweight greats.
There was nothing quite like McGregor’s run at 145 pounds, in which he tore through the division and claimed the UFC featherweight title with a historic 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo to end the Brazilian’s nine-year unbeaten streak.
However, after capturing the lightweight title to reach dual-champion status, McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) never defended either belt – which Bisping thinks puts an asterisk on his place in the UFC’s greatest featherweights of all time.
Instead, he thinks Alexander Volkanovski’s upcoming trilogy fight against Max Holloway could determine the best UFC featherweight in history.
“If Volkanovski pulls it off, he will then be, without a shadow of a doubt, the greatest featherweight that the UFC has ever seen,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “Of course, that was Jose Aldo, ‘The King of Rio’. Then Conor McGregor knocked him out in 13 seconds, but he then never defended the belt. He vacated and then went up to 155. So therefore, whilst McGregor had a crazy run at 145, he doesn’t go down as one of the greats.”
Featherweight champion Volkanovski (24-1 MMA, 11-0 UFC) defends his title against Holloway (23-6 MMA, 19-6 UFC) in a rematch at UFC 276 on July 2, and if he can beat the ex-champ for a third time, Bisping thinks he’ll cement his place as the No. 1 145-pounder the sport has ever seen.
Volkanovski expressed interest in a move up to lightweight if he gets past Holloway, and Bisping is all for it.
“If Volkanovski gets the job done, he’s going to fight Charles Oliveira later this year,” Bisping added. “Double-champ, superfight, and I can’t wait for it.”