Khabib Nurmagomedov Says Dana White Confirmed That Conor McGregor Will Be Stripped Of His Title Before UFC 223

Who is the current unified UFC lightweight champion? For the minute it appears to still be Conor McGregor, but according to Khabib Nurmagomedov he’s been assured that at UFC 223 he will be fighting Tony Ferguson for the undisputed title.

Ten days ago in Boston, UFC President Dana White refused to talk about the current status of the UFC lightweight title and wouldn’t explain to reporters at the UFC 223 pre-fight press conference whether the Irishman would be stripped of his title or not. Nurmagomedov, however, appears to have spoken to White afterwards and according to the Russian, White confirmed to him that McGregor will be getting stripped of his title before he fights Ferguson on April 7.

“I spoke with Dana (White), I spoke to everybody about this situation,” Nurmagomedov told RT.com. “But they say we are going to fight for a vacant belt, vacant undisputed belt. This is not Tony Ferguson’s interim belt, this is a vacant belt. And after when we fight (on) the 7th of April, on the 8th of April they are going to make it official – whoever wins becomes the real champ.

“Now Tony Ferguson is still an interim champion. Whoever wins becomes the real champ.”

Nurmagomedov went on to say that he doesn’t think that McGregor will ever fight him and that when he becomes champion, he doesn’t think he will be giving him an immediate shot at the title.

“He can fight with Diaz, he can fight in boxing, but when I will beat Inshallah (by God’s will) Tony Ferguson, I am going to make him humble,” he said. “And he will have to stay on the line. He’ll have to stay on the line because he has only one fight in 155. And he wants to fight for the title? No, no way.

“When I become UFC lightweight champ I am going to say ‘hey, who is a real contender, who has five, six or seven wins streak.’ They have to fight for the title, not you. We will see what happens, but I don’t think that he will ever fight with me. I think they understand what will happen.”