Irish sensation Conor McGregor seized the interim featherweight title at UFC 189 after TKO’ing Chad Mendes in the second round. McGregor was originally set to face Brazilian nemesis Jose Aldo for the official 145 lbs. championship, but the reigning champion pulled out of the bout at the last minute citing a rib injury.
Although ‘The Notorious’ emerged as a champion on July 11th, many feel his interim belt is just an accessory and that ‘Scarface’ is the true featherweight champion.
UFC commentator and personality Joe Rogan echoed those sentiments on his most recent “Fight Companion” podcast. It’s not just McGregor’s belt Rogan feels is illegitimate, the podcast host thinks they’re all “bulls***.” From the 1:03:00 mark onwards:
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“Belts are bulls***. Who cares,” Rogan said. “It’s the best fighters vs. the best fighters. We all know who the best fighters are, right? Have the best fighters fight the best guys. when you beat the best guy, you’re the best fighter.”
“Let’s be honest. McGregor has an illegitimate belt. It’s a made up belt. We call it the ‘interim’ belt but Aldo defended his title a year ago. Stripping a guy because he doesn’t— because he can’t get through a camp without getting injured is a part of MMA. It’s always been a part of MMA. But, because of the marketing, because of the hype behind it, because of the HUGE event, the enormity, the economics of the event, they decide to make [McGregor vs. Mendes] an interim fight. He’s got a title. Aldo’s got a title. They both have titles. So they’re fighting for the undisputed title.”
“Wouldn’t it be better if they just fought? We know how big Conor is. We know how big Aldo is. Let’s go fight, guys!”
Hardcore fans were also unmoved when Carlos Condit was crowned the interim welterweight champion after defeating Nick Diaz in 2012, and more recently when Fabricio Werdum took home the interim heavyweight title after knocking out Mark Hunt at UFC 180.
Conor McGregor will collide with Jose Aldo in a title unification bout at UFC 194 on December 12th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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