CONOR McGREGOR WON’T fight again for 10 months.
That’s according to UFC president Dana White, who says McGregor’s planned hiatus will keep him out of the octagon until late 2017.
With his girlfriend due to give birth in May and some financial issues also to be resolved with the UFC, McGregor explained last month that he plans to take a break next year.
The 28-year-old made the comments in the aftermath of his second-round victory over Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in New York, which saw him become the first fighter ever to hold two UFC belts at the same time.
McGregor didn’t offer a specific timeline for his return, but White has told FOX Sports that the UFC’s biggest star will be out of action for 10 months.
A fortnight after relieving Alvarez of the UFC lightweight title, McGregor was stripped of the featherweight belt which he hadn’t defended in the 11 months since winning it at the expense of Jose Aldo.
Nevertheless, the Dubliner has continued to parade the two belts while defiantly declaring himself to be “still the two-weight world champion”.
“That’s who Conor is, that’s how Conor is,” White said. “Conor is the best. He’s got no fights, he’s taking 10 months off, he’s having a baby and everybody’s still talking about him. He’s the best at it. Nobody’s better.”
Jose Aldo has now been reinstalled as UFC featherweight champion, with Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis fighting this weekend at UFC 206 in Toronto for an interim title in the 145lbs division.
Instead of defending the featherweight title while it was in his possession, McGregor — who was granted a boxing licence last week by the state of California — competed in two welterweight bouts against Nate Diaz before challenging Alvarez for the lightweight strap.
White said: “Obviously the way this thing ended up playing out, Conor fought [Nate] Diaz twice and then Eddie Alvarez for the 155lbs title.
“It had been almost a year since it had been defended. So Jose Aldo becomes the champion — he was the interim champ [after beating Frankie Edgar in July] — and now we do the interim title for these two [Pettis and Holloway] and the winner of this one will fight Jose Aldo.
“So this thing works out perfectly to get rid of all the problems we’ve had with the 145lbs division over the last year.”
