Eight months after Conor McGregor won the UFC’s featherweight title, he has yet to put his belt on the line. One 155-turned-170-pound commitment later, some question if he ever will.

However, heading into his second welterweight clash on Saturday, “The Notorious” has a message for all the fellow 145-pounders who have doubts about his return to the division.

“They’re praying I don’t come back,” McGregor said. “Tell me one time I missed weight. I even made championship weight when I wasn’t supposed to make it, when there wasn’t a championship on the line.

“I’m the world champion – of course I’ll defend that at some point in the future. But we’ll see what happens after this fight.”Glasgow Times: Conor McGregor appears unable to open his mouth nowadays without mentioning how much money he earns

“This fight,” is the highly anticipated rematch with Nate Diaz (19-10 MMA, 14-8 UFC), who beat McGregor (19-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) at UFC 196 in March after stepping in on short notice to replace then-lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos.

The welterweight bout is set to headline Saturday’s UFC 202 event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

McGregor went on to say that had Frankie Edgar won the battle for the interim belt against Jose Aldo at UFC 200, his return would’ve been certain. But that result, he says, showed just how ahead of the 145-pound competition he really is.

“I’ve beaten everybody in the division,” McGregor said. “If Frankie had won that last fight, after all that he and his team were talking, it would have been set it stone: I’m going back down to shut that man up. But he got slapped around that fight – couldn’t do nothing against a guy I KOd in one shot. So I’ve just got to see it out, see what happens after this fight.

“But I’m the featherweight world champion. The guy I KOd in 13 seconds is holding the interim. What does that tell you? I’m leaps and bounds ahead of that featherweight division.”

McGregor also said his dream of sustaining multiple UFC belts remains – which he thinks would have been inevitable had his clash with Dos Anjos come to fruition.

“I’m grateful that it happened the way it happened,” McGregor said. “But if Dos Anjos hadn’t pu–ied out in that fight – the shots I hit Nate with in the first eight, nine minutes of that contest would have KOd Dos Anjos. That is it. I’d be sitting here with a belt here and a belt there.

“But some things happen for a reason, and this one happened for a reason. It forced me to reevaluate before things got too sloppy. I’m happy it happened but, most certainly, I still envision two, and possibly three belts on my shoulder.”