It was fun while it lasted, but Dana White believed that something has to be done. Due to two-division champion Conor McGregor's inactivity to defend his featherweight title, the UFC has decided to relinquish his belt.
Jose Aldo will take his place as the top dog at the 145-pound division. Meanwhile, Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis will be duking it out at the Air Canada Centre in UFC 206 for the interim championship and the chance to fight Aldo for the undisputed championship in 2017.
According to The Independent, the main reason for the relinquishment of McGregor's title is the desire of the UFC have a title fight ready for UFC 206. Light-heavyweight champion David Cormier had to cancel his title defense against Anthony Johnson at UFC 206 due to injury.
The Hamilton Spectator added more bits of information to the story: the management made the decision in consideration of the Irishman's career. The UFC wanted "The Notorious" to focus on the 155-pound championship, so the featherweight belt had to be relinquished.
MMA Fighting has gathered a plethora of reactions from the different fighters under the UFC promotion, and all had mixed opinions about the fiasco. Both Holloway and Pettis were grateful for the chance to have a shot at the featherweight title while Elias Theodorou and Cole Miller are wondering about the point of interim belt in the first place.
McGregor is yet to make a formal announcement to the press or on his Twitter feed. It will be interesting to see how the entire thing develops as McGregor was clear about his desire to have one title slung on both of his shoulders.
"The Notorious" McGregor got his featherweight belt after his famous 13-second knockout of Aldo at UFC 194. After a couple of tussles with Nate Diaz, the Irishman snagged his second belt from Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, in front of a packed Madison Square Garden crowd.
