It was supposed to be simple. Easy. Clean.

When Conor McGregor surrendered his featherweight title -- promoting Jose Aldo from “interim” to “reigning” — the Brazilian was supposed to move on to fight the winner of Max Holloway vs. Anthony Pettis, who went to war at UFC 206 earlier this month in Toronto.

After a “Blessed” beatdown, Aldo vs. Holloway seemed like a lock.

But then the Hawaiian revealed an ankle injury (see it) that delayed his return, which then prompted “Junior” to do his best “Notorious” impression and jump weight classes for an immediate (and interim) title fight.

Why? Coach Andre Pederneiras explains to Combate (via MMA Junkie):

“Our plans for this year would be this fight, challenging the No. 1 (lightweight) challenger, which would be Khabib (Nurmagomedov) – we want to get the toughest guy in the division, who everyone, say, runs from – and then, after that, Conor, who’s pregnant and will only fight after that. Both Sean Shelby and (UFC president) Dana White thought it was a brilliant idea, sensational. So that Aldo could be at a situation in which there was no way Conor could sit and say, ‘I won’t fight him.’ If he gets beat, he’ll fight Holloway, no problem. Everyone is happy. Max Holloway goes to Disney to see Mickey and Goofy, Aldo fights the No.1 challenger, takes away Conor’s possible defeat to Khabib – which is what everyone thinks – and finally he has the rematch with Conor and shows the entire world he’s the true champion.”

Unfortunately, Nurmagomedov didn’t stick to the script.

While we’ve heard from all the aforementioned players in this multidivisional game, one person who hasn’t been speaking is top lightweight contender Tony Ferguson, who was expected to fly with “The Eagle” in early 2017.

It’s almost like he faded away ... like a fart in the wind.