In the world of Dana White, Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov are fighting for the UFC lightweight championship at UFC 223.
In that same world, Conor McGregor is the UFC lightweight champion. He has not been stripped, and it’s not certain that he will be stripped.
To the untrained viewer, these two sentences can’t possibly work with each other. If Ferguson and Nurmagomedov are fighting for the UFC lightweight championship, then McGregor is no longer the champion.
If McGregor is still the champion though, then whatever Ferguson and Nurmagomedov are fighting over isn’t the UFC lightweight title.
This is where it takes an expert to breakdown the complicated world of Dana White. In this world, timelines overlap, promises don’t mean a thing and everything can change in an instant. Remember when McGregor was stripped of his UFC featherweight Championship because Daniel Cormier got injured? Well, we’re going a few levels deeper than that today.
In White’s world, there are different universes. For every decision, choice, or action that happens, a new universe is created with the opposite outcome. At the UFC 222/223 press conference, we saw three different universes collide in a beautiful display of quantum physics. Breaking each one down will help explain how Conor McGregor can still be the UFC lightweight champion while Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov fight for the title.
Timeline #1: The Best Case Scenario
In this universe, the UFC operates as it should. There are no controversies, and the system works like a well-oiled machine. In this universe, McGregor declares that he will fight the winner of Ferguson vs. Nurmagomedov later in 2018. In this universe, Conor McGregor is the UFC lightweight champion.
Timeline #2: The Likely Outcome
In this universe, the UFC operates as it has been. McGregor and the UFC don’t come to an agreement. As time ticks down, the UFC continues to promote Tony Ferguson as the champion, but are still shy to officially declare that McGregor isn’t. The fight between Ferguson and Nurmagomedov takes place, and the winner is announced as the UFC lightweight champion. In this universe, Tony Ferguson is the UFC lightweight champion.
Timeline #3: The Security Blanket
In this universe, the MMA Gods do their worst to make sure that Ferguson and Nurmagomedov don’t make it into the cage. Whether it’s an injury, a bad weight cut or a freak elevator accident, Ferguson or Nurmagomedov don’t make it to the event. Since the UFC never announced that McGregor was stripped of his championship, he remains the UFC lightweight champion.
All three of these timelines work out well for the UFC. They all avoid the absolute worst-case scenario, which is McGregor being stripped of his title, and the Ferguson/Nurmagomedov fight falling through at the last moment.
The problem for Dana White right now, is that these universes co-exist on the same timeline. It won’t be until McGregor makes a decision on his future with the UFC, or Ferguson and Nurmagomedov fight/don’t fight that the universes divide. Until then, White is preparing for any outcome, meaning that both Conor McGregor and Tony Ferguson are the UFC lightweight champion.