John Kavanagh said the UFC can strip Conor McGregor of a lightweight belt, but he thinks it can’t take away his status as UFC lightweight champion regardless of what happens at UFC 223.
The news was confirmed this week that interim UFC lightweight champ Tony Ferguson will square off against Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov in the UFC 223’s PPV main event on April 7. What’s still unknown yet, is whether the UFC plans to strip Conor McGregor, or if the matchup will stand as an interim title contest.
In a recent Facebook live interview, Mcgregor’s head coach John Kavanagh said it doesn’t matter who wins or what belt is on the line, Conor McGregor is still the Champion.
“I’m hearing this [fight news] at the same time as everyone else. I see there is a press conference that will happen tomorrow. I think Tony [Ferguson] and Khabib [Nurmagomedov], or else just Khabib, is being interviewed about the fight that Dana [White] announced in April, which was news to me as well. Maybe they’re going to say it at that. Is it an interim title fight or is it a belt fight? I don’t know.”
“I think regardless of what way it’s sold, I think it’s still going to be known who the champion is. I know that’s going to upset a lot of people, but there you go, that’s my opinion on it. If it happens that those guys fight each other, and if it happens for the belt, they’re both going to think to themselves, ‘I’ve got to beat Conor [McGregor] to be really seen as the champion.”- John Kavanagh speaking on a Facebook Live Q&A transcript by MMA Fighting.
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Posted by Moby Siddique on Thursday, January 18, 2018
The discussion round McGregor being stripped stems from his inactivity in MMA. Notorious won the UFC lightweight title against Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 via second-round knockout back in November of 2016, but he’s yet to return for a title defense.
Despite how eager fans may be about Conor McGregor being stripped or not defending his title, it just doesn’t seem that relevant to him. In case Mcgregor is stripped and Nurmagomedov or Ferguson fight for the “true” title in April, McGregor could come back and immediately try to snag it back whenever he wants.
Coach John said i heard some speculation that McGregor may be stripped of his title tomorrow at a UFC press conference in Boston, but Kavanagh insisted that he still does not know if the Irishman will hold onto his belt.
Share your opinion, do you think Conor Mcgregor should stripped of lightweight title or defend it?
