Conor McGregor publicly spoke about being stripped of the UFC featherweight championship for the first time on Friday — and it’s fair to say that he’s not buying any of it.
“The Notorious,” who hadn’t defended the featherweight belt since capturing it with a knockout win over Jose Aldo just under a year ago, is adamant that he is still the 145-pound champion. McGregor said ahead of his recent lightweight title fight that the UFC would need an “army” to take away his featherweight title, and it appears that the Irishman is still under that same belief.
“I have something going on with the UFC,” McGregor said at a Q&A in Belfast, Northern Ireland (H/T SevereMMA.com). “They’re trying to strip me, and I was like, ‘Well, I ain’t stripped, I still got that belt.’ That belt is still in my home right now. I’m still the two-weight world champion. Someone’s gotta come take that off me. I see articles, I see stuff online. But I don’t see the belt not in my presence. There are two world titles in my home.
“Them belts are mine. Whatever they want to say, they can say, ‘We took the belt, and now it’s this guy’s belt.’ You can play with those fake belts all you want. Jose was KO’d, Eddie was KO’d; you’re looking at the two-weight world champion. That’s it. I’ll say to the UFC — I love the company — ‘You’re fooling nobody, you’re fooling nobody with that.’ Best of luck to them. I don’t know; I still got that belt. Somebody gotta come take that belts off me, physically; not online, not through a keyboard — the keyboard warriors are gonna take that belts. You gotta take that belt off me physically if you want to come get them.”
Just two weeks after beating Eddie Alvarez in the UFC 205 main event to capture 155-pound gold and to become the first simultaneous two-division champion in the organization’s history, McGregor “relinquished” his 145-pound belt (of course, that’s not the case, according to the superstar). Jose Aldo was subsequently bumped up to undisputed champion status, and the new UFC 206 main event of Max Holloway vs. Anthony Pettis was declared an interim title fight. The UFC has since removed Conor McGregor as featherweight champion in its official rankings, and off the featherweight rankings entirely.
McGregor doesn’t have immediate plans to return to the cage, as his girlfriend is expecting a baby in March 2017. But it seems likely that he’ll defend his 155-pound title for the first time mid-next year.
McGregor obtained a professional boxing license from the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) earlier this week.