Dana White Reveals How To Stop Conor McGregor From Holding Up Division
The UFC is starting to realize that they are gonna have to do something with the lightweight title that is currently held by Conor McGregor.
With McGregor not likely to defend it anytime soon, the promotion appears to understand that they are going to have to strip him of it.
As recently as Thursday, UFC President Dana White announced a lightweight bout that would see interim champion Tony Ferguson take on title contender Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 223 on April 7.
Keep in mind that as of this writing, the promotion has yet to note if it would be for the interim or official title.
Despite the fact that White has yet to confirm what the two fighters are competing for, he did drop a big hint that he is getting ready to strip McGregor of the title because, in his words, McGregor can’t hold up the title or the division any longer.
“He can’t hold up the title, can’t hold up the whole division,” White said on the Toucher and Rich radio show (transcribed by Ryan Harkness for Uproxx). “There’s a lot of guys that I have to deal with every day that aren’t worth the aggravation.
This kid is worth the aggravation and I have so much respect for him, what he’s accomplished, what he’s done. If he wants to ride off into the sunset with his money for the rest of his life, I don’t blame him. And if he wants to come back and fight, we’ll get him back in. He just can’t hold the division hostage.”
“You take the belt,” he replied. “In any sport, the NBA, the NFL, hockey, whatever it may be. No one guy can hold the whole sport hostage. It just doesn’t happen. When Conor was getting ready for this Mayweather fight, I was already making plans for Conor to never come back.”
The company and the business goes on, and there will be other stars. The NBA didn’t roll it up and pack it up when Jordan left. And they won’t when LeBron goes either. The list goes on and on.”
This wouldn’t be the first time that the promotion has stripped their biggest PPV draw of a title. If you recall, he was stripped of the featherweight title shortly after beating Eddie Alvarez to become a two-division champ at UFC 205.
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