Conor McGregor Should Get Next Title Shot After Edgar Dominates Swanson

The UFC's featherweight title picture just cleared up.

Cub Swanson, he of the six-fight winning streak heading into UFC Fight Night Austin, is vanquished. And he went out not with a bang but a whisper, the victim of yet another stifling Frankie Edgar performance.

Swanson strolled to the cage full of confidence, and his first-round performance showed glimpses of the fighter he has become since the first time he lost to Jose Aldo. But that confidence was mostly gone by the end of the second round after Swanson spent the better part of five minutes drowning underneath Edgar's relentless quicksand style.

With Edgar having dispatched the only legitimate contender to the featherweight championship, the way forward is clear.

Conor McGregor should get the next shot. He will get the next shot.

That is provided he beats Dennis Siver, of course. And while that is no foregone conclusion—mixed martial arts is an unpredictable beast at times—it is logical to assume that McGregor will beat Siver.

And once he does, it's time to lock him in the cage with Aldo.

Swanson was deserving. If he'd beaten Edgar, there would have been some controversy. McGregor, because he is best friends with Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta, would have found himself standing across the cage from Aldo before Swanson regardless of Saturday's outcome. If you think sporting concerns would have outweighed the lucrative dream of McGregor vs. Aldo in a Brazilian or Irish soccer stadium, well, you're out of your mind.

But none of that matters. Not anymore. The true deserving contender has been swept away, and now comes the money fight. And while some will call for Edgar to get a title shot—and perhaps he deserves it, with a dominant win and late finish over a legitimate contender—there is zero chance such a thing happens. He's already faced Aldo. He lost. And while he has improved since then, the appeal of Aldo vs. McGregor at this point far surpasses anything Edgar might bring to the table. 

McGregor is the UFC's fastest-rising star in years. It is time to capitalize on his star power, on his ability to sell himself and to sell a fight. He's the only relevant thing that has happened to the featherweight division since it began.

And it doesn't matter if he can beat Aldo. You don't make the fight because you think he can beat Aldo. You make the fight because it's going to make more money than any featherweight fight in history.

This was always the way things were going to end up. McGregor was already in waiting for the title shot despite Swanson's protests to the contrary.

Saturday night's results just make the eventual reaction to the UFC's decision that much easier to handle.