Conor McGregor’s status as UFC lightweight champion unknown

UFC president Dana White has refused to clarify if Conor McGregor has been stripped of the lightweight title.

White was asked about McGregor’s status as champion at a press conference on Friday night, which featured interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov, who will fight one another in the main event of UFC 223.

“I have no update,” White said when asked about McGregor’s future. “The winner of this fight will be the champion.”

He added: “They’re going to fight for the title. This is the real title. I said that Conor can’t hold up the title for two years.”

Conor McGregor ‘turned down’ lightweight title unification bout

Ferguson has claimed McGregor turned down an offer to unify the lightweight titles.

He said: “They offered me Conor and Conor didn't want to fight."

Dana White doubles down on title stripping threat

White has reiterated his threat to McGregor about relieving him from his title if his hiatus continues into late 2018.

“I said leading into Mayweather fight, I made it pretty clear, I’ve been in this business for a very long time. When you make an obscene amount of money like that, who knows if they’ll ever come back?” the UFC chief said.

“Right now, with the position we’re in, Conor’s saying, ‘Maybe I’ll come back in August, maybe I’ll come back in September. Well, that’s almost two years. It’s not fair to the rest of the guys in the division. 

“The division has to go on. These guys have been fighting their whole career. Everybody wants to get to that pinnacle and it’s the fair thing to do.

“Listen, I take so much s**t for how much I like Conor McGregor and everything else, but the division has to go on.”