UFC Fight Night: Why Conor McGregor was forced to relinquish featherweight title

McGregor defeated Jose Aldo in just 13s to clinch the featherweight title in 2015.

Conor McGregor
Conor McGregor will not fight again before May 2017 Reuters

Ultimate Fighting Championship's (UFC) first dual weight champion Conor McGregor has vacated one of his two titles - the featherweight belt - following which Jose Aldo was named champion in the category.

McGregor, who decimated Eddie Alvarez in just two rounds at the UFC 205 main event to clinch the lightweight belt, had maintained that he was not willing to give up any of his titles. Notably, the Irishman just needed 13s at UFC 194 last year to win the featherweight championship against Aldo.

The 28-year-old has been on a fighting spree, hitting the octagon twice in two months. Shortly after his successful rematch with Nate Diaz in August, McGregor was back for his showdown with Alvarez, in which he created history.

Also read: Conor McGregor challenges Floyd Mayweather to $100m fight

However, a series of events involving UFC 206, scheduled for 6 December has resulted in McGregor losing one of his two titles. Light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, who was supposed to defend his title against Anthony Johnson at UFC 206, withdrew from the event forcing the organisers to figure out a replacement for the main event.

McGregor has been stripped of the title in order to keep the title bout on the UFC 206 card. Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis will now fight for the interim UFC featherweight championship and the winner of the match will face Aldo in 2017.

UFC president Dana White also confirmed earlier this month that McGregor will not be fighting anytime before May next year and that he would take a break from the octagon while he awaits his first child.

"His girl gets super stressed out when he fights. He doesn't want her having any of that stress while she's pregnant," White said, as quoted by The Washington Post. "He is good. He should take time off. He has been fighting nonstop. ... It's good for him and her and it's good for the baby."

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