Conor McGregor Has Vacated His Featherweight Title

Conor McGregor vacates his featherweight title so he can keep his lightweight one.

Conor McGregor celebrates winning the lightweight title over Eddie Alvarez.
USA Today Sports

Image via USA Today Sports/Adam Hunger

Conor McGregor celebrates winning the lightweight title over Eddie Alvarez.

Two weeks ago, Conor McGregor TKO'd Eddie Alvarez to win the UFC Lightweight Championship (155 lbs.), which he paired with his Featherweight title (145 lbs.) to become the first fighter in the history of the UFC to hold two championship belts at the same time. Hopefully you enjoyed that historic reign while it lasted, because it's already over. The UFC announced on Saturday that McGregor had opted to vacate his 145-lb. title in order to retain his lightweight championship. McGregor reportedly didn't agree to the decision.

As you may recall, McGregor won the Featherweight title last December at UFC 194, after beating Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds. But he never defended that belt, instead choosing to fight two welterweight bouts against Nate Diaz before taking on Alvarez earlier this month.

Because of this development, Aldo is now the undisputed featherweight champ. Prior to his 13-second loss to McGregor last year, he had made seven consecutive title defenses at that level. After being unable to get a rematch against McGregor, Aldo requested a release from UFC in September, saying that he couldn't trust UFC president Dana White.

McGregor isn't expected to fight again, at any level, until at least May. Previously he had expressed a desire to defend both titles, but last Tuesday his agent, Audie Attar, was asked on ESPN's Five Rounds broadcast whether or not McGregor would be prepared to vacate a title if forced to by the UFC, and said "He's a businessman, so he is going to make business decisions. No matter what happens, nobody will ever be able to take those belts away from him. Nobody has beat him for those belts. So the way I look at it is, whatever business decision Conor decides to make, it's a smart one. We have proven that to date. If a belt is taken or what have you, it's figurative. He still keeps that win. Nobody beat him to dethrone him."

Seems pretty anti-climactic. Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis will fight a five-round interim featherweight title bout at UFC 206 on December 10 to determine who will fight Aldo to unify the belt in 2017.

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