Is Conor McGregor going to be stripped of his UFC lightweight title? We’re still yet to learn the answer to that question, but the man he defeated for the title back in Nov. 2016 at UFC 205, Eddie Alvarez, has a theory that could be on the money.

Speaking on The MMA Hour last evening, Alvarez spoke about the upcoming title fight between Khbaib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson on April 7 and gave an interesting theory as to why the unified title could be on the line at UFC 223. Alvarez believes the UFC haven’t stripped McGregor yet so they don’t open themselves to the possibility of them not having a champion if the fight between Nurmagomedov and Ferguson falls through.

“I saw another theory online and I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s exactly what it is,’” said Alvarez. “What’s going on is, this fight [between Nurmagomedov and Ferguson] is 0 for 3. They’re not going to strip Conor of a belt and then have a vacant title for a fight that’s 0 for 3. “They have not been able to make this fight. Every time they book it, they’re not able to make the fight – either Khabib gets hurt or Tony gets hurt or someone gets hurt.”

Alvarez then went on to explain that he thinks the UFC could be waiting until as late as April 6 to strip McGregor of the 155-pounds title and that it’s being done this way to create the biggest impact possible.

“So, I think what the UFC is thinking is – [and] this is a theory, it’s just an opinion on my part – this fight is not going to happen. It’s very unlikely that it’s going to happen, so they’re not going to strip the champion and then have this fight fall through and then not have a champion,” he said. “So, I think the day of the weigh-ins, they’re going to strip [McGregor] and it’s going to make really big news. Then they’re going to have a title fight, that’s also going to make big news, so it’s going to make for a lot of publicity in one day. That’s my theory.”

Nothing is for certain, but this isn’t a bad theory.