In the early hours of April 8, in Brooklyn, either Tony Ferguson or Khabib Nurmagomedov will be crowned undisputed UFC lightweight champion.
Conor McGregor, the promotion hopes, will either have committed to facing the winner or will have relinquished his title as ‘champion’.
On November 12, 2016 McGregor sat behind the UFC featherweight and lightweight belts a little under an hour after he had made history. ‘The Notorious’ had comprehensively defeated then lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez to become the first person to hold UFC titles in multiple divisions.
Announcing himself as ‘The Champ Champ’, McGregor spoke about his journey from starting out in Ireland to getting to the very top of the MMA game.
“It feels great; it feels familiar. I swear to God, I saw it so clearly and so consistently until it’s here, in reality.”
We are just over 14 months removed from that era-defining night at Madison Square Garden and McGregor is on the brink of losing both belts. The featherweight strap, we were informed by the UFC last year, had been relinquished with José Aldo getting it back only to lose it to Max Holloway.
Many suspected Friday night’s press conference to promote the upcoming UFC 222 and 223 events would have sealed McGregor’s fate in the lightweight division. No comeback fight to announce so no more belt.
If only it was that simple.
Instead, UFC president Dana White confirmed the fight between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 223 would be for the undisputed lightweight belt.
“The winner of this fight will be the champion.”
Just what that makes McGregor, is unclear. The graphics accompanying Ferguson’s on-screen appearances declared him to be the lightweight champion. There was no mention of him being interim champ, after he won that title by defeating Kevin Lee late last year.
Importantly, McGregor has not been stripped of his belt…. yet.
White was less than clear with his pronouncements, on Friday at the presser, and often tried to steer questions away from the elephant not in the room – McGregor – when various reporters tried to figure the divisional shifts out. Some of the best MMA reporters in the game tried and failed to tease more details out. “Next question please,” White declared at one stage, through a forced grin.
Following that press conference, there was some more light shown on the situation. White had a conversation with TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter:
Bronsteter: “As of today, of this moment, McGregor has not been stripped of his title. But if he doesn’t commit to defending that title, leading up to that fight, that fight [McGregor vs. the winner] is for the undisputed title and you’re just going to move on?”
White: “Correct.”
Bronsteter: “Right, so as of right now, McGregor is still technically the champion?”
White: “Correct.”
Bronsteter: “Ok, that’s good to know. Good to clear that up.”
White: “It’s pretty simple… we made it pretty clear.”
Not pretty enough.
https://twitter.com/aaronbronsteter/status/954501497496186880
There are two good reasons why the UFC may have been reluctant to go so far as to strip McGregor of his lightweight belt.
Firstly, Nurmagomedov and Ferguson have to fight first. The pair have been lined up to fight three times before but have never made it as far as The Octagon. The UFC would look foolish if they were to put all their chips behind these men – good as they are – only to see that fight fall through.
Secondly, and most importantly, McGregor is a behemoth in the UFC. He is by far their biggest star.
The UFC need McGregor back. Even though they would like him back sooner, the publicity his return will generate and the money that will flow in means they, to a large degree, start playing to the Dubliner’s rules.
“If there was any indication needed to show who the most powerful person in this sport is,” proclaimed Ariel Helwani, “that was it… they don’t want to strip the most powerful man in the game.”
There may be a new ‘undisputed champion’ by April 8 but the disputed champion will still loom large.
