What is going on with the UFC Lightweight Championship?
One of the biggest and most well-known iconic figures in the UFC, Joe Rogan, recently sat down on his daily YouTube podcast with Ben Askren and discussed the three biggest names in the lightweight division, Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Tony Ferguson.
As of late, It is very unclear who the lightweight champion of the UFC actually is. There are various rumours going around that Conor McGregor has been stripped of his title.
In the UFC 25th Anniversary Series Press Conference which was held last week, UFC President Dana White could not give a solid answer about the current situation of the lightweight title.
Conor McGregor is keeping very quiet about his future plans but from recent activity on his Instagram account, it looks like he's back in training. Time will tell who the 'Notorious One' will face next and whoever that maybe, it is certain to be a controversial as well as entertaining build up if Conor McGregor is involved.
In a recent Q&A session, Nurmagomedov expressed his desire to humble Conor McGregor and he also spoke about his upcoming fight with Tony Ferguson. Nurmagomedov is so confident in his abilities that he thinks he will outclass Ferguson everywhere.
From watching Nurmagomedov's most recent performances against Edson Barboza and Micheal Johnson its hard not to believe what he says. He made those top fighters look like amateurs. He has dominated every single fight he has been in so far and holds an unbeaten record in his MMA career.
Tony Ferguson is confident he can be the first to stop the unstoppable force and he has the right too. Ferguson is currently on a 10-fight win streak and is also coming off a lot of brilliant performances. There is no doubt that this will be Ferguson and Nurmagomedov's biggest challenge of their career as a UFC fighter and it is clear to see that Conor McGregor will have his hands full when he returns.
What's not clear though, is the fact that who is the UFC Lightweight Champion with both Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov set to face off at UFC 223 for the said Championship. Ferguson won the interim UFC Lightweight Championship back in October but the future still remains unclear regarding the belt thanks to the silence of UFC president Dana White. With Conor McGregor also not making his intentions clear, there is much-unwarranted confusion surrounding the UFC 223 bout.
The most logical idea going forward, if McGregor makes his return to UFC, will be to make him fight against the winner of the bout between Ferguson and Nurmagomedov in a title match to put all qualms to bed. However, McGregor can also argue about the fact that he never lost the title and must not be asked to win it back. Only time will tell what's in store for the UFC Lightweight Championship.