VIDEO | Eddie Alvarez Takes a Crack at Why Conor McGregor Hasn’t Been Stripped

If you’re still confused about the UFC’s lightweight title situation, you’re not the only one. Even Tony Ferguson is frustrated. Dana White was criticized for not being clear when he announced that Ferguson’s bout with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 223 would be for a title, but didn’t clarify which title would be on the line. What makes it more mysterious, is that Conor McGregor has yet to be stripped of his title. A lot of people had their own theories as to what is going on, but Eddie Alvarez recently tried his hand at it.

“I saw another theory online and I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s exactly what it is.’ What’s going on is, this fight [between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson] is 0 for 3. They’re not going to strip Conor [McGregor] of a belt and then have a vacant title for a fight that’s 0 for 3. They have not been able to make this fight. Every time they book it, they’re not able to make the fight – either Khabib gets hurt or Tony gets hurt or someone gets hurt.”

If You only want Connor there’s nuttin wrong wit that but Keep it 💯 wit everyone @NateDiaz209 , don’t call out the entire division when You don’t want No work from anyone of Us . It’s as phony as your whole character You fucking Dork . You changed man #Fakenews

— Eddie Alvarez (@Ealvarezfight) January 26, 2018

“So, I think what the UFC is thinking is – [and] this is a theory, it’s just an opinion on my part – this fight is not going to happen. It’s very unlikely that it’s going to happen, so they’re not going to strip the champion and then have this fight fall through and then not have a champion. So, I think the day of the weigh-ins, they’re going to strip [McGregor] and it’s going to make really big news. Then they’re going to have a title fight, that’s also going to make big news, so it’s going to make for a lot of publicity in one day. That’s my theory.” — Eddie Alvarez speaking to The MMA Hour as transcribed by MMA NYTT.

The UFC could just be waiting on when Conor McGregor gives the word on if he will fight this year or not, then decide if the highly anticipated fight between Ferguson and Nurmagomedov will be for either the interim or undisputed title. However, Eddie Alvarez’s theory is pretty entertaining and is something that you could even see happening. Just think about it: Nurmagoemdov and Ferguson makes it to the scales and now that the fight is on, they promote it to the undisputed title. Either way, this is a fight everyone has wanted to see for a long time.

1/30/2018.