Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight champion Conor McGregor wants to create “The McGregor Belt,” sort of an upscale version of “The BMF Belt” that “Notorious” can wear in lieu of the promotion’s lightweight title.
Which requires a victory over the champion at 155 pounds.
While not everyone in the promotion is a fan of “fake” titles, top lightweight contender and former Bellator MMA kingpin Michael Chandler thinks it’s a fantastic idea. In fact, “Iron” already made room for “The McGregor Belt” on his fireplace mantle.
“I love it, man,” Chandler told Helen Yee (transcribed by MMA Fighting). “It’s Conor being Conor. Listen, you can say what you want about Conor but the dude’s the biggest combat sports icon on the planet. Not just right now but he has been for a while and he will be for the foreseeable future. I don’t think it is going to happen but I think it’s kind of a cool idea and I love the prospect of him beating Dustin Poirier and me putting my belt on the line, November or December, and him putting the Conor McGregor belt on the line in November or December. I’d love a patek rare belt sitting on my mantle to add to my collection. I want to share the Octagon with Conor McGregor sooner or later, eventually before I retire. So we’ll see if it happens after I beat Charles Oliveira. How many fights it will take, we’ll see.”
Chandler is currently scheduled to fight Charles Oliveira for the UFC lightweight title, which became vacant when promotion president Dana White (finally) accepted the retirement of then-champion Khabib Nurmagomedov back in March 2021.
As for McGregor, his plate is also full.
“Notorious” will try to win his Dustin Poirier trilogy when they collide for the third and likely final time on July 10 in a city and venue to be determined. McGregor beat Poirier at UFC 178, then fell to “The Diamond” in their UFC 257 rematch several years later.