According to the UFC, Conor McGregor isn’t a two-division champion anymore. McGregor has other ideas, though.
Speaking with fans at an event in Ireland, McGregor stated that no matter what the UFC says, he’s still champion at both 145 and 155 pounds.
Check out the video (starts at 2:35 mark—warning: NSFW language):
“Them belts are mine,” he said when asked whether he was stripped or voluntarily surrendered the UFC featherweight title. “Whatever they want to say, they can say ‘ah, well we took the belt, and now it’s this guy’s belt.’ You can play with those fake belts all you want. Jose [Aldo] was KO’d. Eddie [Alvarez] was KO’d. You’re looking at the two-weight world champion, and that’s it.”
That’s an unmistakable warning shot from the Irishman.
The kingpin of pay-per-view was unceremoniously dethroned from the top of the featherweight division when the UFC announced that he had relinquished his title during the UFC Fight Night 101 broadcast last Saturday.
The timing was oddly convenient, given that it coincided with the organization’s announcement of a new main event between Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis for the interim featherweight title at UFC 206 on Dec. 10. Naturally, this drew questions about whether McGregor voluntarily vacated the title or the UFC pulled a power play on its most popular fighter.
McGregor’s boasts here suggest he didn’t play ball with the company, and it doesn’t seem like he’s willing to bow to its narrative either.
“I’ll say to the UFC…you’re fooling nobody,” he said. “You’re fooling nobody with that. … I’ve still got their belts. Somebody’s got to come take their belts off me, physically. Not online, not through a keyboard…you’ve got to take them belts off me physically if you want to come get them.”
Regardless, Pettis and Holloway will face off for the interim featherweight title, presumably for a shot at Aldo’s undisputed featherweight title at some point in early 2017. Whoever winds up the unified champion from there, however, will have a tough task ahead of him to get out from under McGregor’s shadow.
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