Conor McGregor issues foul-mouthed response to UFC’s decision to strip him of lightweight championship

The former two-weight champion has been stripped of the lightweight championship with either Khabib Numagomedov or Max Holloway set to win it this weekend

Conor McGregor has issued a foul-mouthed response to the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s [UFC’s] decision to strip him of the lightweight title, with Dana White announcing that the controversial Irishman will no longer stand as a champion come this Saturday.

UFC president White announced that this weekend’s headline bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Max Holloway at UFC 223 will be for McGregor’s lightweight championship, with the Dubliner not fighting in mixed martial arts since his victory over Eddie Alvarez in November 2016.

"No interim champ. When this fight is over, champion,” White said during a press conference on Wednesday while pointing towards both Nurmagomedov and Holloway. “One of these guys will be the champion.”

But McGregor issued a response on Thursday that left little to the imagination about how he feels over White’s decision, with the two-time UFC champion reacting in a similar way to the last time he was stripped of a belt.

“You’s’ll [sic] strip me of nothing you’s do nothing c***s,” McGregor wrote on Twitter on Thursday morning.

Conor McGregor issued an expletive-laden response (Twitter/TheNotoriousMMA)

McGregor beat Alvarez at UFC 205 to add the lightweight title to the featherweight championship that he already held from his victory over Jose Aldo, but soon had the latter taken off him when he decided to take some time away from the sport to have his first child with girlfriend Dee Devlin as well as face Floyd Mayweather in a blockbuster boxing match.

White has insisted though that McGregor is “100 per cent coming back” to the UFC after his excursion last year into the squared-circle, and the president believes that the Irishman will be seen again in the Octagon before the end of 2018 with a number of options on the cards. McGregor would be the likely candidate to face the winner of Numagomedov and reigning featherweight champion Holloway – who could emulate McGregor in becoming a two-weight champion.

But Tony Ferguson, who was initially slated to face Nurmagomedov until he withdrew after suffering an injury, is also a potential opponent for McGregor, while there is the mouth-watering prospect of a trilogy fight against Nate Diaz to settle their rivalry having won one bout apiece.