How Dana White’s New UFC Policy on Dual-Title Reigns Could Have Impacted Conor McGregor? | MMA News
Conor McGregor is one of the few fighters who have been accredited with holding two UFC titles simultaneously marking a notable feat in MMA history. However, UFC President Dana White has clarified in a recent interview that this practice is now over, making way for a shift in how these title reigns are being handled.
Conor McGregor stays a part of the rare list of fighters holding onto two titles simultaneously
In 2016, McGregor created history after he became the first fighter to hold both the UFC Featherweight and Lightweight titles at the same time. He won the Featherweight title in 2015, and just a year later, he triumphed over Eddie Alvarez to capture the Lightweight title, creating a rare and iconic moment in the sport.
McGregor held onto the Featherweight title for 350 days without defending it, while he competed in higher weight classes which included his fights against Nate Diaz at the welterweight and moving on to claim the lightweight title. However, two weeks after securing the lightweight title, McGregor was stripped of the Featherweight belt for not defending it. He showcased an unorthodox approach to title defence by holding onto the Lightweight title for more than 500 days without defending it.
With UFC fighters like Ilia Topuria vacating the Featherweight title to move up to lightweight and pursue a fight against champion Islam Makhachev, Dana White’s decision to end the era of simultaneous title reigns is a shift towards a more competitive and structured title defence system. This also ensures that the champions are more active and are consistently defending their belts.
“Unless you think you can defend your title,” White added at the Climate Pledge Arena. “If there’s a guy who thinks he can do it and wants to defend both belts and has accomplished all these great things, I would have no problem with it. But you’re going to be busy.”
Apart from McGregor, only three other fighters have achieved dual-title status: Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, and Henry Cejudo. Cormier held both the Light-Heavyweight and Heavyweight titles in 2018, after defeating Stipe Miocic, while Nunes became a simultaneous champion in 2018 when she held both the Bantamweight and Featherweight titles. Cejudo won the Bantamweight title while still holding the Flyweight title, but like McGregor, eventually vacated one.
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Despite the UFC’s move away from dual-title reigns, McGregor’s 2016 achievement, however, will forever be a defining moment in the sport.
