Conor McGregor responds to Dana White’s threat of stripping him of his UFC lightweight title by jumping straight back into training

CONOR McGREGOR has responded to Dana White’s threat to strip him of his lightweight title by jumping straight back into training.

The UFC president set McGregor a deadline yesterday to defend his championship.

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White said McGregor has to book a fight by March or his belt would be taken from him.

Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov and lightweight interim champion Tony Ferguson would then battle it out for the prize.

White told Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole: “I love that matchup [against Nurmagomedov], but Tony Ferguson is the interim champion, and Conor and I haven’t really figured out when he’s coming back and what’s going on.

White said if McGregor doesn’t fight until August or September it would then have been over two years since his last defence.

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And he urged him to hurry up and decide on his future plans.

White added: “Conor has some big decisions to make here, really quick.

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“If he waits — I don’t think Conor wants to fight until August, but if he waits until August or September, that’s around two years since the belt has been defended, and that can’t happen.”

He added: “As long as Conor is willing to [book a] fight by March, we could do Khabib versus Tony.

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“We could do Khabib versus Tony, and then the winner fights Conor for the title.”

However, McGregor was spotted back in training today.

The Irishman was seen with coach John Kavanagh in the Straight Blast Gym in Dublin.