Conor McGregor may not have an accessible path towards UFC gold at the moment but no matter as the Irish mixed martial arts superstar called on Dana White to issue him with his very own UFC title, The McGregor Belt.
McGregor's January knocked defeat at the hands of Dustin Poirier means that the Dubliner is about as far away from championship gold as he has been in a while, and nor was he considered by UFC brass as a contender to assume the lightweight world title finally vacated by his heated rival Khabib Nurmagomedov.
With one of Michael Chandler and Charles Oliveira set to be the division's new standard-bearer when they meet later this year, McGregor has called on the UFC to issue a new world title, or a sort of tangible version of the famed 'Red Panty Night', which he has dubbed 'The McGregor Belt'.
"I feel it’s time to break out this baby for the next fight," McGregor wrote alongside footage of him making similar request ahead of his first fight with Nate Diaz at UFC 196 in March 2016.
"I ask the UFC to please create The McGregor belt. I suggest rose gold and rubies. Think patek rare."
McGregor's initial call for a world title to be made in his honor ahead of the initial Diaz scrap came about after he described himself as his "own belt".
"It doesn’t matter what weight division or what belt is on the line because really I should create my own belt,” he said at the UFC 196 pre-fight presser opposite Diaz.
"Because I am myself my own belt. It doesn’t matter if it’s the featherweight, the lightweight, the welterweight, it’s the McGregor belt. That’s it, I’m fighting for my own belt."
It should perhaps be noted, though, that if McGregor did indeed implement The McGregor Belt ahead of UFC 196, he would have lost it to the Californian before regaining it some months later, defending it against Eddie Alvarez before subsequently losing it to Khabib Nurmagomedov, who subsequently retired as the undefeated McGregor Champion.
While UFC brass will almost certainly scoff at McGregor's suggestion, the fight league have invented a title belt out of thin air in the past when they arranged the "Bad Motherf*cker" title fight between Diaz and Jorge Masvidal in late 2019.
McGregor also chimed in with some further design suggestions for the imaginary championship, with yellow gold and emeralds to mirror the colors of the Irish flag also a possibility, he said.
And while he was on the subject of newly-instituted titles, McGregor also said that it is he, and not Diaz or Masvidal, who is the true "bad motherf*cker" in the UFC.
"[I] Went up two weight divisions on a weeks notice to fight [Diaz] for that fight," he noted.
"No hesitation. Straight onto my jet. In thru the side door. Surprise, surprise."
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