McGregor: UFC fooling no one, I am the two-division champion

Conor McGregor won the featherweight title at UFC 194, on December 12, 2015. Then he fought at welterweight twice, and won the lightweight championship. He and partner Dee Devlin are expecting a baby in May, and he plans to take a break until then. So that is a year and half at the earliest before he could conceivably defende the featherweight belt.

But ‘Notorious’ never mentioned anything at featherweight. His only mention of lightweight was to call #1 challenger Khabib Nurmagomedov a pull-out merchant. He expressed slight interest in welterweight. The sole contest he seems interested in was a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather.

So after eleven months without a defense, and no plans for one, and months off going forward, McGregor’s featherweight title was removed, and Aldo became the new, full champion. Aldo was unable to defend the title immediately, so Max Holloway vs. Anthony Pettis at UFC 206 became an interim title fight.

UFC president Dana White said recently that giving up the featherweight title was McGregor’s decision, but at a Q&A at The Devenish bar in Belfast, Ireland, McGregor’s on again off again attitude about the belt was emphatically on. Again.

I also have something going on with the UFC,” said McGregor, as transcribed by Danny Segura for MMA Fighting. “They’re trying to strip me and I was like, ‘Well, I ain’t stripped. I still got that belt, that belt is still at home right now.’ I’m still the two-way world champion, someone has to come take that from me. I see articles, I see stuff online, but I don’t see the belt not in my presence. The belt is right there, there’s two world titles at my home.

Eddie is still unconscious, what do you mean? I only fought last week. Them belts are mine. Whatever they want to say, and they can say, ‘Oh we took the belt and now it’s this guy’s belt,’ you can play with those fake belts all you want. Jose was KO’ed, Eddie was KO’ed, you’re looking at the two-weight world champion and that’s it. I’ll say to the UFC, and I love their company, you’re fooling nobody, you’re fooling nobody with that.

But best of luck to them, I still got them belts. Someone’s got to come take those belts from me, physically. Not online, not through a keyboard. The keyboard warriors trying to take them belts away from me, you got to take them belts off me physically if you want to come get them.

When Iole asked White earlier in the week about McGregor getting a boxing license, his answer could equally apply here.

Conor’s Conor,” said White. “He does his thing. But he’s under contract to me. Who knows with this guy? Who knows what he is up to. I just let Conor be Conor.”