Conor McGregor may still consider himself a two-division UFC champion, but current featherweight titleholder Max Holloway not surprisingly has a different opinion.
“I mean, how can I not consider myself the UFC featherweight world champion and the UFC lightweight world champion?” McGregor said Wednesday during a conference call. “The current champion is Max Holloway, a man I dismantled. And the former was Jose Aldo. I still reign supreme over that division.”
McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC), who meets Floyd Mayweather (49-0 boxing) in an anticipated boxing match on Aug. 26, defeated Holloway (18-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 26 in August 2013. “Blessed” has won 11 consecutive fights since, including a title-winning TKO of Aldo in June.
McGregor, the UFC lightweight champ, never lost the belt now in Holloway’s possession, but rather was stripped because of his inability to defend within an appropriate timeframe after he won the 155-pound title and was presumably going to focus on that division.
Holloway caught wind of the comments made by McGregor, and he fired back with the some thoughts of his own (via Twitter):
Although McGregor claims he will eventually return to the octagon to defend his “multiple” titles, the Irishman’s attention is currently locked in his pay-per-view showdown with Mayweather, which takes place T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Holloway, meanwhile, is expected have a title defense against ex-UFC champ Frankie Edgar scheduled for later this year. The Hawaiian has previously stated he doesn’t expect McGregor to return to the UFC following his bout with Mayweather.
For more on “The Money Fight: Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor,” check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.
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