UFC president Dana White made it sound like he’s more than willing to strip Conor McGregor of his lightweight world championship title.
White appeared on Fox Sports late Sunday night and said the following:
Conor is saying he’s thinking about coming back in September. If he comes back in September that’s almost two years. That can’t happen. It’s not fair to everyone else.I love Conor, respect Conor, and love everything he has done for this company. The belt would have to move on, absolutely…If and when Conor comes back, he gets the first crack at the title.
“Conor has said he’s thinking about coming back in September. If he comes back in September, that’s almost two years…that can’t happen.” — @danawhite
Dana speaks on #UFCSTL, Khabib, Tony and of course…Conor McGregor possibly being stripped. https://t.co/fTlT8sD2I3
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) January 15, 2018
First off, don’t get outraged or all spun up about this. White has a great point. You can’t be away from the UFC for two years and expect your title to stay with you. That’s just not realistic.
Secondly, and much more importantly, this is also likely being done to hype up McGregor’s return. It’s going to be way more interesting if he’s fighting for a title. That’s also simply a fact.
I mostly just can’t wait for McGregor to get back in the octagon. The man is pure electricity. The UFC is also better off when McGregor is making a bloody mess of his opponents’ faces. Hopefully his return is everything we hope it to be.