White cagey about stripping McGregor of belt: Ferguson-Khabib is 'for the title'

The stakes of UFC 223's headliner remain anyone's guess.

Much akin to last month's pre-fight presser, president Dana White continued to play coy when discussing the ante of the bill's main event with TMZ Sports on Thursday, claiming interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov would be clashing for more than the former's crown on April 7 - but without confirming whether Conor McGregor will be stripped of the undisputed title due to inactivity.

"I said in the last press conference, that fight will be for the title. It’s not for the interim title. That fight is for the title," White said.

For that to be the case, McGregor would have to be deposed, but while White's comments imply as much, he's refused to even utter the words "undisputed" or "strip" - or any variation thereof - when dishing on the free-wheeling Irishman's status. That said, the UFC boss does intend to see McGregor face the winner of UFC 223's closer when he returns to action.

"Right. Is he upset? Conor understands. Conor made a lot of money. He wants some time off, but the division has to go on and the business has to go on," White continued.

"I’d like to see Conor fight the winner. It was August and then September, I don't know. I say it all the time: With that kind of money, Conor might never come back. It’s a lot of money."

McGregor most recently became the promotion's longest-reigning champion without a single title defense to his name, and is now over 15 months removed from the night he stopped Eddie Alvarez to claim the 155-pound crown at UFC 205.