UFC star Conor McGregor had been stripped of the UFC featherweight championship on Saturday after Daniel Cormier was forced out of the main event at UFC 206 with an injury. UFC was pulling out all the stops for a new title fight and forced McGregor to return the featherweight title to Jose Aldo.
Fox Sports News reported that Conor McGregor gave up the belt out of necessity as the UFC committee scrambled in desperate to find a last-minute main event after light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier suffered an injury that forced him out of his bout with Anthony Johnson on Dec. 10 in Toronto. As a result, Jose Aldo who was the interim featherweight champion will likely become the new 145-pound king. This also means that Conor McGregor is expected to be stripped of the featherweight title but McGregor will remain as the lightweight champion.
According to Daily Star, UFC President Dana White said McGregor's decision on who he would face next would determine the fate of the featherweight championship. "Conor has to defend his title or make a decision to give it up or whatever he wants to do. I've got to sit down and see what's next," said White.
Morning Report: Dana White says Conor McGregor won't be stripped of title https://t.co/QXvKf7NYrp
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Jose Aldo captured the interim featherweight title with a win over Frankie Edgar at UFC 200 in July. But Aldo was forced to quit the promotion in September when Conor McGregor signed to fight Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight title at UFC 205.
Following Conor McGregor's decisive TKO win over Alvarez, McGregor had to decide if he wanted to keep moving between the two weight classes in an effort to retain the titles. However, because McGregor hasn't defended the featherweight title since he won it at UFC 194 in December 2015, the only choice for White was to strip him of the belt.
Conor McGregor team was aware that the UFC would likely make this move to help save the card once the original main event was scrapped earlier this week. But McGregor hasn't made any public statement about giving up the featherweight title as of yet.
How will Conor McGregor react after UFC stripped off his featherweight title?
