The champ remains the champ, for now.
Reports surfaced, late on Tuesday, that Khabib Nurmagomedov would be taking on UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson at UFC 223, on April 7, in Brooklyn. The fight itself will be highly anticipated – as it was twice before – but the attention grabber was the belt that was reported to be on the line.
Chris Taylor of BJPenn, claimed to have confirmed with his sources that the first – first reported by Russian site TASS – was taking place and would be made official later this week.
Tallied with Yahoo’s Kevin Iole reporting that Nurmagomedov would be a guest of the promotion at UFC 220 in Boston, this weekend, it led many to speculate that the bout would soon be confirmed by UF president Dana White.
Taylor also claimed McGregor would be stripped of his UFC lightweight belt and that title, rather than an interim strap, would be up for grabs at the April pay-per-view. Last Friday, Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz told MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani that his man would not entertain the idea of fighting for an interim belt. He declared:
“Khabib’s next fight, we’re not fighting for no damn interim belt. We want the real belt, or we don’t want nothing.
“We appreciate everything the UFC has done for us, but it’s time for a real belt. Nobody is interested in fighting for a fake belt. Tony Ferguson has a fake belt. Nobody wants this.”
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White addressed the matter of McGregor’s delayed return to UFC action last weekend, telling reporters:
“Conor has said he’s thinking about coming back in September. If he comes back in September that’s almost two years [since he won it, at UFC 205]. That can’t happen. It’s not fair to everybody else.”
If McGregor, who became reigning featherweight and lightweight champion in November 2016, was not to return until this autumn, it would be closing in on 600 days before he defended the 155lbs and that is something the promotion cannot countenance.
McGregor’s camp responds
However, as of Wednesday morning, McGregor remains the champion of the lightweight division. Helwani received that message from McGregor’s team after reaching out for comment. The belt has not been officially stripped.
As for ‘The Notorious’ himself, the train keeps rolling.
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All may be revealed at UFC 220 this weekend.
