McGregor officially vacates featherweight championship
Conor McGregor's reign as dual-division champion lasted all of two weeks.
During Saturday's UFC Fight Night 101 broadcast, the promotion officially announced that McGregor has relinquished the featherweight championship. He will continue to hold the lightweight belt that he won from Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205.
UFC president Dana White had long maintained that he would not allow McGregor to hold onto both titles in the event that he defeated Alvarez. The decision to vacate the belt was expedited by the promotion wanting to raise the stakes for an upcoming bout between Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis. The featherweight contenders became the UFC 206 main event after an injury knocked light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier off of the card.
Holloway and Pettis will now compete for a new interim championship, while current interim champion Jose Aldo will be promoted to undisputed status. It is officially the second undisputed reign for Aldo after he held the title from April 2011 to December 2015.
In interviews leading up to his bout with Alvarez at UFC 205, McGregor had boasted that "they're gonna need a f---in' army to come take them belts off me!" He softened his stance somewhat in subsequent comments, and now it appears that the UFC has convinced him to give up his status as 145-pound champion.
McGregor had not recorded a single featherweight title defense since winning it from Aldo last December. It was unlikely that he would do so in the near future as he is expected to take time off until May to prepare for the birth of his first child.
Related - Three kings: What another interim title means for the 145-pound division