Frankie Edgar wants a shot at Conor McGregor before he moves up to the lightweight division.
For the next few years, The Notorious envisions yo-yoing between 145-155lbs and defending two UFC titles.
Edgar is happy for McGregor to pursue his dream of testing himself in two divisions but wants to first relieve him of his featherweight belt.
In an interview with FOX Sports, Edgar declared he was the match-up that would derail McGregor in 2016.
He said, “We’ve seen Conor deal with wrestling of Chad and I feel like my wrestling’s just as good if not better than Chad’s and on the ground I have great top control and great ground and pound and I can do it forever.
“I really think I’m a nightmare for him. I don’t know if that’s keeping him away. Prove me wrong. Prove all the doubters wrong. Stroke that ego a little bit.”
The Answer was lightweight champion himself until he lost a controversial bout with Benson Henderson.
He returned to McGregor’s ego when discussing why he, rather than lightweight champ Rafael Dos Anjos, deserves to face the Dubliner next. Edgar said:
“Conor’s hearing it. It’s all over Twitter people telling him that I’m a tough matchup and Conor’s got an ego.
“I’m hoping his ego wants to prove everybody wrong and that he is better than me. I want to prove everybody right.”
Any announcements on McGregor’s next fight should be made within the next month. His most likely options are UFC 198, in April, or the highly anticipated UFC 200 at the 20,000-seater Las Vegas Arena.
