Long time friend and mentor, John Kavanagh, spoke to RedFM about the UFC's decision to strip Conor McGregor of his featherweight title. The company's decision was largely due to the fact that McGregor has failed to defend his crown since defeating José Aldo last December.
While the UFC reiterated that the Dubliner 'relinquished' his title, his coach says it was anything but;
It was more the UFC...For me personally, I was very disappointed with how they went about doing it.
It was a very messy set of circumstances which led to doing it. They lost a main event [at UFC 206] and then they haphazardly threw together a new main event.
They felt they had to make this for a title in order for it to sell so they brought in another interim title that Jose Aldo already has and then bumped Jose Aldo up to the current undisputed champion. Which just seems ridiculous to me.
Conor has only been 11 months since he won that title. There have been many, many examples of fighters waiting 15 months, 18 months before defending it. He’s 11 months and they stripped him of it.
I thought it was very shortsighted by the UFC how they went about doing it
It's difficult to deny John Kavanagh's claims as the news that Conor McGregor was no longer featherweight champion quickly followed the cancellation of Daniel Cormier vs Anthony Johnson, which was originally expected to headline UFC 206 in Toronto. It was later replaced by Anthony Pettis and Max Holloway for the interim title, which was little more than a publicity stunt in order to boost ppv-buys.
Kavanagh also commented on the possibility of ever seeing McGregor stepping into the same ring as Floyd Mayweather;
Is it getting any closer? I don’t know is the short answer. It certainly wouldn’t surprise me to hear that it’s going to happen.
I mean, for Mayweather, he’s 49-0, I’m sure he wants that 50th fight. It’s a nice number.
Right now ask the average guy on the street, who do they want to see Mayweather fight, what fight is going to get the most amount of interest? And it would be a superfight with Conor.
Stranger things have happened in combat sports than a Mayweather vs. Conor fight.
I wouldn’t be surprised by it. Who knows? It’s one of the many options that are there for Conor so let’s see how the next couple of weeks go.
SEE ALSO: UFC Right To Strip McGregor Of Featherweight Belt, But Why Reward José Aldo?
Transcribed by Severe MMA
