Conor McGregor Relinquishes UFC Featherweight Championship | MMAWeekly.com

UFC officials on Saturday announced that the promotion’s first dual-division champion, Conor McGregor, has relinquished his featherweight championship.

The move came about when light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier suffered an injury that forced him out of his UFC 206 title defense against Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. Wanting to keep a title fight on the card, UFC officials made the move to have McGregor relinquish the belt in order to make way for co-main eventers Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis to fight for the interim UFC featherweight championship.

Jose Aldo already held the interim designation in the division, a distinction he won by defeating Frankie Edgar at UFC 200 in July. With Holloway vs. Pettis being elevated to interim championship status in the new UFC 206 main event, Aldo replaces McGregor as the new UFC featherweight champion.

The winner of Holloway vs. Pettis will then unify the featherweight championship in a bout with Aldo sometime in 2017.

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It’s an odd twist of fate, as McGregor defeated Aldo with a now-infamous 13-second knockout to win the featherweight strap. McGregor will remain as UFC lightweight champion.

Though the UFC announced the move as McGregor relinquishing the featherweight title, upon winning the lightweight title, McGregor was adamant that he didn’t want to give up either belt. He had yet to comment on the situation at the time of publication.

UFC 206: Holloway vs. Pettis takes place on Dec. 10 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

(Video courtesy of UFC on FOX | Viewing may be limited by broadcast rights restrictions)

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