With a lightweight title fight between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov announced as official by UFC president Dana White, the stripping of Conor McGregor seems like a mere formality at this point.
And while the UFC has yet to announce an official decision on the status of their lightweight world champion, UFC president Dana White gave McGregor until March to defend or be stripped.
On Friday, the UFC is to hold a press conference making the Khabib vs. Ferguson bout official. And while the promotion has yet to announce if the interim or undisputed belt will be up for grabs, one thing is certain, Conor’s camp doesn’t care.
According to Conor’s head coach John Kavanagh, the belt is McGregor’s, whether the UFC decides to strip him or not.
In a new Facebook Q&A, a key member from Conor’s camp touched on the issue for the very first time.
Coach John Kavanagh stated, “If it happens that they fight each other, and if it happens that it’s for the belt, they’re both going to bed at night think to themselves, ‘I’ve got to beat Conor to be really seen as the champ.’ That’s how I see it.”
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“You look at the way Conor won that belt, he didn’t decision someone or edge out someone,” Kavanagh said. “In that fight (with Alvarez), no one can look at that fight and say it wasn’t completely one-sided. It wasn’t in any way a close fight. Conor won that belt with an exclamation mark, with a statement. He is the champion. He is the lightweight champion, and that’s that.”
