Fans of current UFC Lightweight Champion and former UFC Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor may be a little disappointed as they read on, because UFC President Dana White recently revealed that McGregor will not be returning to the octagon until at least September or October of 2017, which means the champion will be gone for ten months or longer.
“That (featherweight) belt hadn’t been defended in almost a year, and Conor’s taking another ten months off for maternity. It’s not fair to the rest of the guys in that division,” said White on the UFC Unfiltered podcast. “You can’t tie up the entire division, but I did let him fight for it. I let him do it.”
McGregor was recently stripped (or gave up the belt, depending on whom you believe) of the featherweight title, former interim champion Jose Aldo was named undisputed champion. Max Holloway will be facing former UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis at UFC 206 this weekend to crown a new interim featherweight champion, the winner will face Aldo next year.
McGregor’s last bout in the octagon took place this past November at UFC 205, where he captured the lightweight belt by defeating Eddie Alvarez. It was a historical victory as McGregor became the first fighter in UFC history to hold two titles simultaneously in the promotion.
