White: If McGregor wins two belts, he has to forfeit one

UFC president Dana White appeared recently on ESPN’s SportsCenter and explained that featherweight champion Conor McGregor was granted his wish to become the first man in UFC history to hold two belts at once, but that if successful, it will be short lived. McGregor challenges lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 on November 12 in New York, New York. If he beat Alvarez, one belt will have to go.

So this fight’s coming up, and he wants to try to gain both belts, said White, as transcribed by Tristen Critchfield for Sherdog. He will give up one of the titles after that fight in New York.

McGregor won the title by beating Jose Aldo in 13 seconds at UFC 194 on December 12, 2015. His next fight was just three months later vs. then lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 196 on March 5, 2016. The plan then was to win the belt and next defend the featherweight belt vs. Aldo.

But RDA injured his foot and Nate Diaz took the fight on 11 days notice and won. That fight begat a rematch, and in the meantime, Aldo fought Edgar for the interim title at UFC 200 on July 9.

So if McGregor beats Alvarez, which belt will he give up?

That’s a good question. That’s what we’ll figure out, said White. He’s got some stuff going on right now, some personal stuff that I’m sure he’ll announce when he’s ready. But this fight made sense.

After the Nate Diaz fight he injured his foot. The doctor basically said there’s no real damage there, it’s an old injury, but you need to stay off your foot for a few weeks. Conor and I were going back and forth about the foot. I told him, ‘You’re not a doctor,’ and he told me, ‘I know my body better than you do.’ I’ll give him that one and he wants to fight. It’s the reason we all love Conor McGregor.

It’s actually not that bad. He’s an intelligent guy. The thing that I love and respect about Conor McGregor is that he wants to fight and he wants to fight everybody. He’s my kind of guy.