Holly Holm will make the first defense of the women's bantamweight title she won from Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 in November when she faces former Strikeforce champion Miesha Tate.
Bleacher Report first reported the news last week, though UFC officials would not confirm it, insisting it was not completed. But the deal was finalized Tuesday and the none-too-shocking announcement was made. A news conference will be held in Las Vegas next week.
The big news is McGregor's bid to become the first man in UFC history to hold titles in two divisions simultaneously. Randy Couture held the heavyweight title on two occasions and the light heavyweight belt on three, but never at the same time.
B.J. Penn held the welterweight and lightweight titles, but also at separate points.
McGregor stopped Chad Mendes in the second round of UFC 189 on July 11 in Las Vegas to win the interim featherweight belt, then knocked out long-reigning champion Jose Aldo in the main event of UFC 194 on Dec. 12 to win the full title.
He said at the news conference following that bout that he wanted to try for the lightweight title and then defend both of them. UFC president Dana White agreed to that plan last week.
White told Yahoo Sports on Tuesday that he never considered allowing other fighters to do it because none of them fought as often as McGregor does.
"This isn't like after Conor beat Jose, he came out and said he wanted to do this; he's been saying it for a long time, for as long as I've known him," White said. "This kid does everything he says he's going to do. He told me a long time ago, 'I was a two-division champion [in Cage Warriors] and I'm going to be a two-division champion in the UFC.' Well, he's got one of them and he's going after the second.
"And it was never an issue for me to agree to that because of how often he fights. A guy who fights only once or twice a year, you let him do this, and it winds up clogging up a division."
White praised McGregor for trying to capitalize on his notoriety. The card with dos Anjos-McGregor as the top attraction and Holm-Tate as the co-main has a chance to be one of the best-selling pay-per-views in UFC history, White conceded. It is a point McGregor manager Audie Attar agreed with.
But White said that McGregor understands the need to remain active when he's hot.
"The kid's a genius. He understands the business and he loves money. And he has a chance to make a ton of it."
"The mistake so many of these guys make is, they fight so often on their way up, but once they win a big fight and get some money, they slam on the brakes," White said. "That's the time you should be stepping on the gas. You're hot, people are talking about you and they want to see you. Look how many of our other guys are calling out Conor? He's been active and he's winning and so everyone's talking about him and wanting to see him.
"The kid's a genius. He understands the business and he loves money. And he has a chance to make a ton of it."
McGregor said after UFC 194 that he wanted to take time off, so an early March return seemed fast. But Attar said McGregor isn't one for a lengthy vacation.
He said McGregor is excited by the history-making opportunity.
"I think this show is going to be very big, because it's the first time someone has tried to do something like this," Attar said. "That kind of historic moment is something I think is going to interest a lot of fans. And then you have Holly defending the title and people got to know her after her fight with Ronda, so that's a big one to have on this card. I'm optimistic."
White said he's not sure of what will happen to Frankie Edgar, who was promised the next shot at the featherweight title after knocking out Chad Mendes in December. It's possible that win or lose against dos Anjos, McGregor could defend the featherweight belt at UFC 200 against Edgar.
But White said he also has to consider Aldo, who wants a rematch.
"I don't know what I'm going to do with Frankie, man," White said. "It's a problem. It's a real problem. The only thing I know for 100 percent sure is I'm going to shut my mouth and not say anything about someone getting the next title shot until we have it signed. This is a good problem to have, in that I have a lot of guys who are very deserving to fight for the belt, but we have to figure it out.
"If I give it to Edgar, everyone in Brazil is going to want to kill me. And if I give it to Aldo, then Frankie and all of the fans here [in the U.S.] are going to be pissed. We'll figure it out."
Asked if there is a possibility of an Aldo-Edgar match in the interim, White said, "Probably not."
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