Clear as mud.
The winner of Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov, at UFC 223 in Brooklyn, will be the undisputed UFC lightweight champion. Dana White could not have been clearer than that.
But what of Conor McGregor, the current UFC lightweight champion?
Well… that’s the tricky part.
While the UFC president was unequivocal about the fact that Ferguson vs. Khabib would be for the undisputed 155lbs strap, he refused on several occasions to officially strip McGregor of the belt he won in November 2016 at Madison Square Garden.
White remains hopeful that McGregor, who spent much of last year divided by welcoming his son, Conor Jr., to the world and preparing to box Floyd Mayweather Jr., will return to the UFC, he refuses to hold up the lightweight division any more.
As much as White, and the four fighters – Ferguson, Nurmagomedov, Frankie Edgar and Max Holloway – on stage tried to move events on, there were a raft of questions about ‘The Notorious’. Mid-way through the press conference, MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani asked, flat-out, was there a reason White was not saying McGregor was stripped of his belt.
What followed was a bizarre exchange:
Helwani: “Is there a reason you are not saying [stripped] today?”
White: “No. There’s no reason.”
Helwani: “So has he been stripped of the title? Yes or no?”
White: “Did I say he’s been stripped of the title?”
Helwani: “No.”
White: “Next question please.”
Flipping heck.
Just as many, if not more, questions coming out of that presser than going on. Unprecedented stuff.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 19, 2018
White did confirm that former UFC women’s straw-weight champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk would get an immediate rematch against champion Rose Namajunas at the April 7 pay-per-view.
The rematch is on!@RoseNamajunas set to defend the belt vs @JoannaMMA in the co-main event at #UFC223! pic.twitter.com/RRIOZ3YbE9
— UFC (@ufc) January 19, 2018
It is already looking like a great card and one wonders if McGregor himself will be in attendance.
