McGregor willing to give up 2nd belt with win over Alvarez
Conor McGregor isn't going to squabble with the UFC over the right to hold two belts simultaneously.
He just wants to be given the proper time to enjoy the fruits of his labors.
The reigning featherweight champion moves up to 155 pounds to challenge Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight title in the main event of UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden. Should McGregor come out the victor, he'll become the first fighter to hold two UFC belts simultaneously.
UFC president Dana White is insisting that McGregor will only be allowed to keep one title, and while McGregor was initially resistant to that decision, he appears to have softened his stance. That said, he's looking forward to getting his proper due before he has to forfeit any gold.
"Let me see the pictures on publications with a belt on each shoulder first," McGregor told Mike Dyce of SI.com. "Let me go onto the side of that Octagon and raise two world titles, what's never been done before, before talking about stripping me. Let me get the f---ing things, let me do it.
"I'll always listen to the correct business move, and I'll always do what is the correct move, but let me do it and let me go back, and look at some pictures of me with two belts, and let me embrace it for half a day."
The UFC has traditionally ruled out the possibility of dual-division champions, due to the potential matchmaking havoc such a scenario could wreak on two weight classes. However, White made a concession for McGregor due to the Irishman's immense popularity.
McGregor already knows what it's like to hold two championships at the same time, having won the Cage Warriors Fighting Championship featherweight and lightweight straps before joining the UFC in 2013. He's looking forward to replicating that feat on a far grander scale on Nov. 12 and dealing with the consequences later.
"Everyone wants to see you do good, but not better than them," he said. "That's what's happening here. I'm just looking forward to raising the belts, and doing what has not been done before.
"Don't be trying to take away the historic moment before I've even experienced it."