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McGregor has long fielded criticism for winning titles but never defending them. To this point in his career, the Irishman has won the UFC featherweight and lightweight titles, but has yet to defend either. He was stripped of the featherweight title, but now fighters are calling for his loss of the lightweight strap as well.
The latest is lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov, who is set to return to the Octagon at UFC 219 on Dec. 30, where he will square off with Edson Barboza.
“If (McGregor) doesn’t have injuries, and he doesn’t defend his belt for more than a year, then it’s very bad,” said Nurmagomedov in a Q&A with Russian fans in an app called Hype, according to RTSport.
McGregor won the lightweight championship by defeating Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in November of 2015. He held both the featherweight and lightweight titles at that point. A short time later, he was stripped of the featherweight belt, but then went on to pursue a $100-million payday by boxing Floyd Mayweather in August of 2016.
It has now been more than a year since McGregor set foot in the cage (save for vaulting over the top of a Bellator cage in Dublin), and his fellow lightweights are getting a little antsy without a hard return date on tap.
“When you are the champion and you don’t have an injury, you have to defend it,” said Nurmagomedov. “I really liked how Georges St-Pierre acted in a similar situation. Once he understood that he won’t be able to fight, he didn’t hold his division (in wait). That’s the decision of a real champion.
This article first appeared at News – MMAWeekly.com
