Conor McGregor vacated his UFC featherweight title on Sunday morning - whether he did it by choice or it was a decision forced upon is in dispute.
In an interview with Yahoo Sports, UFC president Dana White has explained why McGregor is no longer the champion.
White says that a 'logjam' had been created in the featherweight division and for it to be removed, decisions had to be made. That included Jose Aldo being bumped up from interim title holder (which he won during the summer at UFC 200) to featherweight champion and the scheduling of another interim title fight between Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis at UFC 206 next weekend.
Dana White explains why Conor McGregor lost featherweight title
Look, I let Conor fight [Nate] Diaz and then I let him fight Diaz again. Then there was the whole 155-pound thing I let him do. But at the end of the day, him doing that tied up the division for a year. There’s a logjam there and a lot of guys were [angry].
This was my way to fix the logjam. I wanted Aldo to fight Holloway for the belt, but he needed more time. So I looked at it and I said, well, it makes sense to make Aldo the champion and then have Holloway and Pettis fight for the interim title, and when Jose’s ready, barring any crazy injuries, the winner can fight him.
In an interview with Cork Radio station Red FM earlier this week, Conor McGregor's coach John Kavanagh said that the decision to take the title from the Dubliner 'more the UFC' than the fighter's choice.
This is something which White disputes.
He’s misinformed. Yeah, he doesn’t know all that has gone on, I guess. Do you think I just did this? This was Conor’s decision.
McGregor caused a stir this week by being issued with a boxing licence in California. The news caused instant speculation about a possible fight between McGregor and Floyd Mayweather.
White says that he doesn't know what McGregor is planning.
I have no idea what Conor is doing. Conor’s Conor. He does his thing. But he’s under contract to me. Who knows with this guy? Who knows what he is up to. I just let Conor be Conor. And the other thing is, it’s fun to talk about this fight and what might happen, but what commission would let that fight happen? Really, think about that.
Picture credit: Ramsey Cardy / SPORTSFILE
