Eddie Alvarez may be onto something.
After that bizarre press conference in Boston, Eddie Alvarez was certain that Conor McGregor was stripped of his UFC lightweight title. Although, with no confirmation from the promotion, the president or any of the other players involved, nobody was really certain.
Dana White grabbed hold of the mic and told everyone that the winner of Tony Ferguson vs Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 223 would be ‘champion’. However, when asked if this news meant that undisputed champion Conor McGregor would have his title revoked, White refused to confirm it either way.
When Ariel Helwani became the third journalist to ask the question everyone wanted to know the answer to, White bluntly responded, ‘Next question.’
This is silly that people are asking if the Champion is stripped or not , the 2 contenders are fighting for the undisputed Title .The answer is Yes he is stripped .There is a lot of $ to be made in that announcement, hence the evading of the question until the time or $ is right
— Eddie Alvarez (@Ealvarezfight) January 19, 2018
‘The Underground King’ has completely changed his mind on the matter since sending out that tweet. On Monday’s MMA Hour, he explained that he found a theory on the internet which has sold him.
“I seen another theory online and I was like, ‘Oh that’s exactly what it is”‘ What’s going on is this fight is 0-3. They’re not going to strip Conor of a belt then have a vacant title for a fight that’s 0-3.”
“They have not been able to make this fight. Every time they book it, the’re not able to make the fight. Either Khabib gets hurt, Tony gets hurt or somebody gets hurt.”
The first time the UFC tried to put this fight on in December 2015, Khabib pulled out with a rib injury. When they were set to main event UFC on Fox 19, Ferguson withdrew after doctors told him he had fluid and blood in his lung. Then, of course, there was that devastating news that Nurmagomedov’s botched weight cut forced him out of UFC 209’s co-main for the interim strap.
Alvarez went deeper. He firmly believes that the UFC will strip McGregor, but they’re waiting for the right time to make the announcement. He feels that time will be right before fight night.
“I think what the UFC’s thinking – it’s just a theory, an opinion on my point – is if this is not going to happen. there’s a very unlikely chance that it’s going to happen, they’re not going to strip the champion, have this fight fall through and not have a champion.”
“I think at their weigh-ins, they’re going to strip him, it’s going to make real big news and they’re going to have a title fight that’s also going to make big news. It’s going to make for a lot of publicity in one day. That’s my theory.”
It’s an interesting theory and one that certainly scans. We’ll just have to wait and see if this turns out to be their plan after all.
