Conor McGregor’s reign as a two-weight UFC champion was fun while it lasted – all 14 days of it.
The Irish superstar has “relinquished” the UFC featherweight championship. Well, that’s the UFC’s story, anyway.
» Mayweather vs McGregor: The latest news, rumours and fight status
Not only are McGregor and the Nevada-based promotion not on the same page, they’re not even reading the same book.
“They’re trying to strip me and I was like, ‘Well, I ain’t stripped. I still got that belt, that belt is still at home right now’,” an unapologetic McGregor said during a question-and-answers session at a bar in Ireland.
“I’m still the two-way world champion, someone has to come take that from me. I see articles, I see stuff online, but I don’t see the belt not in my presence. The belt is right there, there’s two world titles at my home.”
The truth is, the UFC pushing McGregor off the featherweight podium was a matter of convenience. The Irishman has all-but-confirmed that a return to 145-pounds isn’t on the agenda and that weight class could no longer be held hostage.
All the UFC needed was a reason to strip McGregor of his title and they found a good enough one when UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier pulled out of next weekend’s UFC 206 main event with an injury.
Max Holloway versus Anthony Pettis has been elevated to the main event slot and in a blatant effort to add some level of prestige to the fight that will almost certainly tank at the box office, the interim featherweight title is now on the line.
For those keeping score at home, McGregor is no longer champion. Jose Aldo, who won an interim title earlier this year, has been promoted to the official champ and the Holloway-Pettis bout at UFC 206 will determine another interim titleholder.
What a mess.
McGregor’s counterpunch came in the form of a not-so-secret application for a boxing license, fuelling public interest in a bout against retired (but not really) boxing star Floyd Mayweather Jr.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that this is just posturing on the part of the 28-year-old combat sports star, who has made a habit of collecting as many bargaining chips as possible before sitting at the negotiation table opposite UFC brass.
As pointed out in an article penned by John Nash from Bloody Elbow earlier this year, there is an incredibly slim chance that McGregor could open the door for the Mayweather bout by challenge his current contract, which states that “a fighter shall not participate in or render his services as a professional fighter or in any other capacity to any other mixed martial art, martial art, boxing, professional wrestling, or any other fighting competition or exhibition, except as otherwise expressly permitted by this Agreement.”
This hole-filled blueprint would involve McGregor, boxing license in tow, citing the Muhammad Ali Reform Boxing Act’s provision against coercive contracts, claiming that the UFC’s restrictive contract is preventing him from participating in the lucrative boxing bout.
That’s a multi-million dollar gamble for McGregor, who would almost certainly get tied up in legal drama during the cash-earning prime of his career.
And even if the fight somehow gets past that road block, no reputable commission in the United States would green light a bout between an unbeaten, five-division world champion and a pro boxing debutant.
Especially when it comes to UFC’s pay-per-view king, I’ve been taught to “never say never”, but with Mayweather versus McGregor, I’m saying never.
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