Dana White announces unprecedented stipulations for Nurmagomedov vs. Iaquinta UFC 223 title fight

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any crazier for UFC 223, Dana White announced a unique stipulation for the lightweight title fight main event.

Earlier today, UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway was “declared medically unfit to fight” and was pulled from the lightweight title fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov. After going through a short list of possible replacements, the UFC was able to put together Nurmagomedov vs. Al Iaquinta, as Iaquinta was originally scheduled to fight Paul Felder on the card. With Iaquinta weighing in earlier in the day at 155.2-pounds, initially, he was not going to eligible to win the lightweight title being 0.2-pounds over the 155-pound title fight limit.

However, as unpredictable as UFC 223 has been, White announced later in the day that Iaquinta will be considered the UFC lightweight champion if he gets his hand raised over Nurmagomedov on Saturday night. The interesting stipulation here is that even if White and the UFC crown Iaquinta the champion if victorious, he may not be recognized by the New York State Athletic Commission as the champion with the win.

Dana White just announced that Al Iaquinta, if he wins, will be considered UFC champion. White said that NYSAC may not recognize him as champ because of the .2 but he will. That is a new one.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 6, 2018

“Dana White just announced that Al Iaquinta, if he wins, will be considered UFC champion. White said that NYSAC may not recognize him as champ because of the .2 but he will. That is a new one.” – Ariel Helwani

Dana White now says at press conference Al Iaquinta WILL be the lightweight champion if he wins. NYSAC won’t, but they’ll figure it out. I’m cool with this. At this point, I’m pretty much cool with anything.

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) April 6, 2018

“Dana White now says at press conference Al Iaquinta WILL be the lightweight champion if he wins. NYSAC won’t, but they’ll figure it out. I’m cool with this. At this point, I’m pretty much cool with anything.” – Brett Okamoto

What are your thoughts on the entire saga of what has just been the leadup to the actual event taking place tomorrow night in Brooklyn, New York? Sound off in the comment section!

on 4/6/2018.