If you visited UFC.com/fighter/ last week, you would have seen a startlingly different webpage to the one that’s there right now.
On my usual daily trawl through the major MMA websites, I ended up here on Friday evening and noticed something rather strange.
On the page that displays the reigning UFC champions, there was one very notable omission.
Demetrious Johnson was there as UFC flyweight champion, Dominick Cruz was there as bantamweight champion but, between the 135 lb and 155 lb division, there was a glaring gap where an outspoken Irishman ought to be.
Conor McGregor’s bearded profile was absent from the champion’s position at featherweight.
In his place… a massive ‘To be determined.’
And when you click into each weight class, the page is headed by the champion of each division.
Light heavyweight looks like this.
Strawweight looks like this.
But, again, there seems to be no featherweight champion.
Granted, Conor McGregor’s next fight is taking place at welterweight as he meets Nate Diaz at 170 lbs next weekend but, surely, that doesn’t affect his status as reigning featherweight champion.
We wouldn’t go reaching for our tinfoil hats just yet as this could well be a simple mistake on the part of a UFC employee or a technical glitch.
Much has been made about McGregor’s difficulty making 145 lbs nowadays and top featherweight contender Frankie Edgar has this week claimed that he wouldn’t be surprised if their fight at that weight class never took place.
Does this mean that McGregor has plans to vacate his title? Is it a power play from the UFC? Or is just a simple f**k-up?
Who knows? But one thing’s for sure, McGregor is not going to be happy about this one.
