Despite Conor McGregor being the current lightweight champion, he was not offered a short-notice fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov next week.
UFC president Dana White is usually quite angry when things go sideways less than a week away from events he’s promoting. This time though, he was happy that he was able to get someone else to step up. After Tony Ferguson was ruled out of UFC 223 due to a torn LCL following a bizarre tripping accident, Max Holloway stepped up and will try to win a title in a second division when he meets Khabib Nurmagomedov on Saturday.
But that begs the question – where is Conor McGregor in all this? He is the current lightweight champion of the promotion, after all.
White was asked by ESPN if McGregor was offered the fight with Khabib, and the answer was a resounding no:
“I don’t think Conor McGregor could make the weight on six days’ notice. That’s a tough weight cut for him,” White said. “And Conor is not the guy I want to throw in as a late replacement fighter. He’s a guy I want to make a fight with and have the right amount of time to promote the fight.
”I think Conor could return in September, and it could be against one of these guys.”
According to White, the fight between Khabib and Holloway will be for the real lightweight title. He has confirmed in the past that as soon as a punch is thrown in the fight, McGregor will be stripped of his title. He also confirmed today that Ferguson will lose the interim title as well.
I feel like we need flowcharts to keep track of UFC titles nowadays.