Kevin Lee's coach: Why isn't Conor McGregor feeling disrespected by interim belt?

As a veteran fighter in a variety of disciplines, Dewey Cooper isn’t sure why UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor doesn’t feel more disrespected by tonight’s UFC 216 headliner.

After all, in a pay-per-view headliner at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, one of Cooper’s prized pupils, Kevin Lee (16-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC), fights Tony Ferguson (23-3 MMA, 13-1 UFC) for an interim belt.

McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC), meanwhile, is still counting his millions from a pay-per-view boxing blockbuster with Floyd Mayweather, and there’s no guarantee he’ll actually fight the Lee-Ferguson winner.

“Any time there’s an interim championship, I mean, who they consider the real champion should take it offensively and want to fight the interim champion,” Dewey, who’s competed professionally in boxing, kickboxing and MMA, told MMAjunkie Radio. “You know, it shouldn’t be a doubt because if you’re the person you think you are and claim you are as a world champion, you should take it as disrespect that someone else is even considered a champion in your weight division.

“I’m from the old school, where champions always wanted to fight champions.”

Cooper, who’s helped Lee transition from an accomplished wrestler to a bonafide mixed martial artist as his striking coach, understands why McGregor took the big-money Mayweather fight. He can even understand why “The Notorious” is eying a possible third fight and rubber match with Nate Diaz.

However, at some point, Cooper said, McGregor should feel the need to represent his division and title.

“There are big money fights and all of that, but there’s nothing more important than defending your title,” he said. ” … Why win belts if you’re not going to defend them?”

Check out the full conversation above.

For more on UFC 216, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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