Khabib Nurmagomedov ‘100%’ Sure The UFC Will Strip Conor McGregor Before UFC 223

Khabib Nurmagomedov fights Tony Ferguson at UFC 223, but still no one is sure what version of the UFC lightweight title will be on the line.

Will it be the official belt or will it be an interim title? No one is totally sure, but if you ask Nurmagomedov he says it’s definitely going to be for Conor McGregor’s unified UFC lightweight title.

“When did Conor compete last time in MMA?” Nurmagomedov told TMZ Sports. “I forget about this. A long time. He’s boxing guy. He’s good to stay in boxing because you have to compete in MMA like wrestling, grappling, conditioning, like 25 minutes. It’s different.

“It’s very hard to him. But when [will he be back]? They talk about [a] Mayweather fight. I don’t think he’s gonna come back.”

The UFC or Dana White are yet to commit one way or the other on the matter, but in Nurmagomedov’s mind at least, both he and Ferguson will be fighting for the real title and he says that was what was written on the contract he signed.

“We’re going to fight for his belt,” Nurmagomedov said. “The UFC strip his belt now, we’re going to fight for the real belt.

“100% [he will be stripped]. I have [a] contract, [for the] real belt. What are they gonna do? They have only one real belt. They have interim belt and they have [the] real belt. They send me [the] contract, we’re gonna fight with Tony Ferguson for [the] real belt.”

Time will tell, but with the fight only around the corner on April 7, a decision is going to have to be made sooner rather than later.