Conor McGregor to be striped of UFC belt on Friday Feb. 2nd.

Last Wednesday, UFC President Dana White told Boston’s “Toucher and Rich” show that Khabib Nurmagomedov would indeed fight Tony Ferguson at UFC 223. It takes place April 7 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y and the Khabib vs. Tony fight will be the main event.

Here’s the description of Ferguson vs. Nurmagomedov from the official UFC release:

Fans will get their first look at their UFC 223 main event, the highly-anticipated bout between interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson and the undefeated powerhouse Khabib Nurmagomedov. Ferguson looks to extend his 10-fight win streak while Khabib looks to claim UFC gold for the first time while maintaining his perfect record.

This announcement was made on Sunday January 28, sending the fight world into a frenzy of confusion and conspiracy. The was exacerbated by the fact that during the UFC Fight Night 124 post show Dana White said that if Tony Ferguson-Khabib Nurmagomedov title fight does take place; Conor McGregor would be stripped of his championship title. Echoing a similar sentiment earlier in the night while speaking backstage at Scottrade Center in St. Louis. Saying;

_“I want Conor to start training again and come back and defend his title. … We haven’t committed to a time yet, but as long as Conor wants to fight still, Conor and I always get it done,” White said. “You know how Conor is. Conor wants to do things on his time and when he wants to do it. That’s fine. I always say I respect the kid so much for what he accomplished and what he’s brought, but if he’s not ready to go – the belt, I think he wants to come back in September. That’ll be almost two years, and that’s just not fair to the rest of the guys in the division. Let these guys fights, and when Conor decides to come back, and if he decides to come back, then he would get the first crack at the title.” _

Dana was asked 3 separate times on the Sunday press conference if Connor would indeed be striped and would refuse to answer the question directly choosing to ignore or dance around the issue. He said the fight will be for the "real" lightweight title but did not comment of if or when Connor would be stripped and or vacate his title.

Many speculate this is because Ferguson and Nurmagomedov have been booked against each other three prior times without a fight actually materializing. After each pulled out of one scheduled bout due to injury, Ferguson, No. 2 in the latest lightweight rankings, and No. 3 Nurmagomedov who were most signed to fight each other at UFC 209 in March 2017. The fight was then for the vacant interim title but it fell apart on weigh-in day, when Nurmagomedov was hospitalized after failing to make the weight cut. So in this case it seems Dana and the UFC are waiting until they are 100% sure of the fight. That is just after or prior to the official weight-ins to announce that Connor Mcgregor will be stripped of his title, and that the winner of UFC 223's main event will be the new undisputed champion of the UFC's middle weight class. You heard it here first.