Russian UFC lightweight, Khabib Nurmagomedov says current division champion Conor McGregor should be stripped of his belt, which he hasn’t defended since his title victory in November 2016.
Nurmagomedov, 29, who is scheduled to fight at the co-main event of UFC 219 in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 30, was recently fielding live questions from Russian fans on a mobile application called Hype.
Among the questions, ranging from his current weight situation and his training camp ahead of his fight with Edson Barboza, fans asked him about the current lightweight champion, McGregor.
“If he doesn’t have injuries, and he doesn’t defend his belt for more than a year, then it’s very bad,” said Nurmagomedov.
“But when you are the champion and you don’t have an injury, you have to defend it. I really liked how Georges St-Pierre acted in a similar situation. Once he understood, that he won’t be able to fight, he didn’t hold his division (in wait). And that’s the decision of of a real champion.
“Conor doesn’t defend his belt. I don’t even know when he is going to do that. He has the name, it’s profitable for the UFC that he is the champion. They make money because of him and they won’t strip him off the belt. But in my opinion Conor had to be stripped off his belt a long time ago. And Tony Ferguson should be the real champion.”
McGregor won his lightweight belt in a bout against American Eddie Alvarez on November 12, 2016, subduing his opponent by way of a technical knockout in the second round. Winning the lightweight belt has made McGregor the first fighter in UFC history to hold two champion belts in two different weight classes, simultaneously.
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He, however, was stripped of his featherweight belt shortly after the fight with Alvarez, due to his inactivity in the division. Since then, the Irishman has taken time from his MMA career and took a part in the much hyped ‘Money Fight’ with boxing legend Floyd Mayweather in August, which he lost by a technical knockout in the 10th round.
by Denis Geyko for RT Sport