Conor McGregor has been forced to vacate his featherweight title, UFC has confirmed.
When McGregor knocked out Eddie Alvarez earlier this month, McGregor claimed the lightweight title, making him the first fighter in the history of UFC to hold two belts at the same time. However, after light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier pulled out of his fight with Anthony Johnson due to an injury, UFC needed to fill the main event slot at UFC 206 in Toronto, which forced Conor McGregor to relinquish his featherweight title.
Though McGregor wanted to keep both belts, it was quite clear that he would have to give up one of them eventually. Said his agent, Audie Attar, as reported by The Guardian:
"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."
Jose Aldo—who McGregor knocked out in 13 seconds flat last year—is now the new featherweight champion. Next year, Aldo will face the winner of the Max-Anthony Pettis bout, which will take place December 10th.
Hopefully McGregor won't throw a chair at someone over this.
