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ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – JANUARY 21: Conor McGregor of Ireland interacts with media during the UFC 257 press conference event inside Etihad Arena on UFC Fight Island on January 21, 2021 in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

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ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – JANUARY 21: Conor McGregor of Ireland interacts with media during the UFC 257 press conference event inside Etihad Arena on UFC Fight Island on January 21, 2021 in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Conor McGregor is undoubtedly one of the most coveted names in the entire world of MMA. The Irishman is also a former two-weight-division champion of the UFC. McGregor is also known to his fans for his brash and overconfident social media posts. Recently, ‘Mystic Mac’ took to Twitter and shared a post from ESPN MMA which showcased a list of fighters who lost their championships without defending themselves.
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The name Conor McGregor appeared two times on the list. He had given up both his Lightweight and Featherweight championships without even defending them a single time. ‘The Notorious’ went on to boast about this in his recent tweet and presented his championship give-up as a feat.
Conor McGregor didn’t take his championship belts
The fighter took to Twitter to share his thoughts. McGregor’s tweet read, “Gave it back, never took, they’re still in the gaf.” It was clear that McGregor didn’t want anyone to say the UFC had stripped him of his championships.
Gave it back, never took, they’re still in the gaf. https://t.co/nSa2EcODAY
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) November 25, 2022
McGregor had earned both his championships dominantly. He completely got under the skin of the then featherweight champion, Jose Aldo Jr., and obliterated him inside the initial minute of their bout.
He faced the coveted former UFC fighter, Eddie Alvarez, as a challenger for his UFC lightweight title.
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McGregor displayed utter supremacy in the fight, knocking out Alvarez in the second round without taking any significant strikes in the course.
The UFC was the reason Conor McGregor had to give up his championships
McGregor claimed the featherweight title against Jose Aldo at UFC 194 in December 2015. Since then, he had been reluctant towards a title defense fight. Also, the UFC 206 headlining, famed fighter, Daniel Cormier, sustained an injury just before the event. It compelled the UFC to put an interim Featherweight championship bout as the main event of UFC 206.
This, in turn, resulted in the UFC’s decision to take away the Featherweight Title from McGregor. Jose Aldo was once again declared the Featherweight champion once more, vacating his interim Featherweight title to be contested at the UFC 206 main event.

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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JANUARY 18: Conor McGregor waits for the start of his welterweight bout against Donald Cerrone during UFC246 at T-Mobile Arena on January 18, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images)
UFC boss, Dana White, had also stated, “Conor has to defend his title or make a decision to give it up—or whatever he wants to do. I’ve got to sit down and see what’s next”. But McGregor chose to give up his title rather than defend it.
McGregor captured the UFC Lightweight title by defeating Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 on 12 November 2016. But, the infamous altercation between McGregor’s then-friend, Artem Lobov and Khabib Nurmagomedov cropped up after that. McGregor showcased one of his darkest sides after this incident as he came after Nurmagomedov and caused the infamous ‘hand truck thrown into bus’ incident.
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McGregor faced a lawsuit from the UFC following this incident. UFC boss, Dana White, also decided to strip him of his Lightweight title. He thus declared the then-interim lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov as the undisputed Lightweight champion of UFC.
So, do you see agree that the titles were ‘given up’ by Conor McGregor? Or did the UFC snatch them away from him?
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