CONFIRMED: Conor McGregor relinquishes his UFC featherweight title

Jose Aldo is now the undisputed UFC featherweight champion.

The UFC has confirmed that Conor McGregor has relinquished his UFC featherweight title belt, ending his brief reign as the only simultaneous two-division champion in the history of the organisation. There had been speculation that McGregor would have to vacate the featherweight title he won after memorably defeating Jose Aldo in 13 seconds last December and it was confirmed during the coverage of UFC Fight Night Melbourne on Saturday night. Jose Aldo, who defeated Frankie Edgar to become the interim featherweight champion at UFC 200 in July, will now become the undisputed featherweight champion, although he won’t get the rematch with McGregor he so badly wanted. After injury forced Daniel Cormier to withdraw from a bout against Anthony Johnson at UFC 206 in Toronto on December 10, Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis will now battle it out for the interim featherweight title in the main event on the night, with the winner going on to face Aldo for the featherweight title in 2017. After defeating Eddie Alvarez for the UFC lightweight title in New York, meanwhile, McGregor is set to take a break for the foreseeable future as he prepares for the birth of his first child. He hasn’t yet delivered a public response to confirmation that he now holds only one UFC belt instead of two, but when he does it should be interesting…

Main image via Shane Gillen