Conor McGregor Likely to Get Next UFC Title Shot

Conor McGregor’s blistering first-round TKO win over Dustin Poirier has likely earned him a shot at the winner of Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes for the UFC featherweight title.

UFC President Dana White hinted at the news on Thursday.

"Here’s the thing: If you go down the list, every one of those guys has fought Jose Aldo already. Conor hasn’t," White told UFC.com's Matt Parrino. "So who do you line up next for the champ other than Conor? Everybody else has fought him."

McGregor, who has only fought four times in the UFC, has more than lived up to his Notorious nickname.

If he isn’t outwitting opponents in the media or brandishing ivory, elephant-trunk suits at press conferences, he’s in the cage taking care of business. At UFC 178, the uncrowned king of Dublin dusted off top-five ranked Dustin Poirier in under two minutes.

The bout was initially seen as McGregor’s first true test at 145 pounds, but given Aldo’s continued stranglehold over the featherweight division, one significant win could be all that is needed to secure a shot at UFC gold.

Outside of McGregor, the highest-ranked fighter without a loss to Aldo is Poirier.

Any title fight featuring McGregor in the headliner makes sense from a business perspective, especially considering the lack of pay-per-view star power at 145 pounds.

For all of the talk about hype, McGregor has already proven himself as a legitimate needle mover for UFC pay-per-view and ticket sales. UFC commentator Joe Rogan informed McGregor during his post-fight interview at UFC 178 that 10 percent of all of the tickets for the event were sold from Ireland.

UFC Fight Night 46, which featured McGregor and Diego Brandao in the headliner, sold out within minutes of going on sale to the general public.

Aldo is slated to defend the UFC featherweight title for a seventh consecutive time on October 25 against Mendes in the main event of UFC 179 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

According to Sherdog.com's Andreas Hale, McGregor plans to fly out to Brazil and attend the event.

Jordy McElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon.