Conor McGregor believes he is still the UFC 145-pound champion, even if it is Max Holloway who holds the current title.
Conor McGregor set a new record in November 2016 at UFC 205 when he won the UFC lightweight belt. This made him the first and only fighter to hold two titles from two different weight classes at the same time.
But he had only enjoyed this accolade for a couple of weeks when the UFC decided to strip him of the belt due to his inability to defend it. Subsequently, the title was awarded to then interim champion Jose Aldo, who lost it to current champion Max Holloway at UFC 212 last June.
McGregor still holds the lightweight belt, which he has not defended for almost a year now and has created a power vacuum within the division. In his mind though, he is still the UFC’s two-weight world champion, “100%.”
“I mean, how can I not consider myself the UFC featherweight world champion and the UFC lightweight world champion?” McGregor during Wednesday’s media conference call (transcript via MMA Fighting). “The current UFC featherweight world champion is Max Holloway, a man who I dismantled, and the former was Jose Aldo.”
“I still reign supreme over that division. And then also, the 155-pound division, I know there’s talks of an interim belt — I’d only won that belt, and literally a month later there was an interim scheduled.”
“But it is what it is, everyone knows I am the multiple-weight world champion of the UFC’s featherweight division and lightweight division, and I look forward to going back and continuing where I left off.”
As McGregor sets his sights back to mixed martial arts after the August 26th fight, his upcoming opponent Floyd Mayweather Jr. also made mention about transitioning into the sport. And as early as now, McGregor is already looking forward to it.
“If he would do that, he would have my respect. Anyone who is willing to step into a game like that when their limitations are so short deserves respect, and that’s at all levels, whether it’s at club levels in a small hall or a big stadium filled full of fans, or any combat sport for that matter,” McGregor said. “But if he was to follow through with his word on that, then great, I’ll be here to grant him his rematch.”
“Maybe he can come over and after he gets his ass whooped, he can try and challenge for my lightweight belt.”
Mayweather vs. McGregor takes place in ten days, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
