Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White is about as eager to strip Conor McGregor of the lightweight title as Vilos Cohaagen was to kill Douglas Quaid for abandoning his Hauser shtick.
You have to make a decision, sir.
While White refuses to use the word “stripped,” he did reveal that “Notorious” will, in fact, lose his claim to the 155-pound strap when Tony Ferguson fights Khabib Nurmagomedov in the UFC 223 pay-per-view (PPV) main event this April in Brooklyn, New York.
McGregor set the record for longest title reign without a defense, according to SportsKeeda, previously held by ex-lightweight champion Anthony Pettis at 462 days.
“I said in the last press conference that fight will be for the title. It’s not for the interim title, that fight will be for the title,” White told TMZ Sports. “Is he upset? No, Conor understands. Conor made a lot of money, he wants some time off, but the division has to go on and the business has to go on. I say it all the time, when you get that kind of money, Conor might never come back. It’s a lot of money.”
He’s not the only one who can afford to sit out.
McGregor captured the crown at UFC 205 back in late 2016, the took a break from mixed martial arts (MMA) to try his hand at boxing. While he came up short against Floyd Mayweather Jr., “Notorious” made enough dough to last him a lifetime.
Assuming he doesn’t squander it.
There has been talk about a September return for the former featherweight, as well as a “Money” rematch inside the Octagon, but nothing is official at this time. And if I had to guess, White is probably waiting for the curtain to fall on UFC 223 before officially stripping McGregor.
In case we get a repeat of this … or this … or this.