Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov will be fighting for more than a victory when they square off at UFC 223 on April 7 in Brooklyn, New York.
According to Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times, UFC President Dana White said Friday that the winner will take home the UFC lightweight belt, which belongs to Conor McGregor. The Irishman won the title with a knockout of Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in November 2016, making him the first UFC fighter to hold belts in multiple divisions at the same time.
“That’s exactly right: As soon as one punch is thrown, it’s on for the full title, and it’s only fair,” White said, per Pugmire. “They’ve both worked their way up to No. 1 and No. 2. They deserve a shot.”
Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com noted this is the second time the UFC will strip McGregor of a belt without him defending it. He won the featherweight title at UFC 194 in December 2015, when he knocked out Jose Aldo, but he had it stripped several weeks after winning the lightweight title.
McGregor last appeared in the Octagon against Alvarez, and he famously battled Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a boxing match in August. McGregor lost by technical knockout in the 10th round, but he hung tough in the early stages of the bout and was not overwhelmed until the end in his first professional boxing match against one of the all-time greats.
Pugmire pointed out Nurmagomedov’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, demanded the lightweight belt be up for grabs when his fighter met Ferguson, and he wrote:
“The only reason stripping McGregor hasn’t happened sooner is the checkered injury/withdrawal history of Ferguson and Nurmagomedov, who have built up a deep disdain for each other with one injury withdrawal each and the weight-cut illness that forced Nurmagomedov to scrap his scheduled fight against Ferguson last March.”
As for McGregor, he said he will fight again in an Instagram post Feb. 22, and he suggested he wanted to take part in UFC 222 but was told there wasn’t enough time to properly prepare and generate money:
While McGregor’s immediate future in the sport is still to be determined, there will be a new lightweight belt-holder April 7.
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