As UFC continues to sit and wait, hopeful that its biggest star Conor McGregor will make a summer return in 2018, there remains an uncomfortable stat that's repeatedly floated around concerning the lightweight champion. 

Despite becoming the lone UFC fighter to hold world titles in two weight divisions simultaneously, McGregor has never once defended either one. To make matters worse, he hasn't even stepped foot inside the Octagon to compete since November 2016, with no set timetable on when (or if) he will. 

While UFC president Dana White admitted Thursday that it's time for the lightweight division to move forward, he came to the defense of McGregor when asked whether "The Notorious" will be stripped of his 155-pound crown. 

"For people to suggest that, you're just a Conor hater," White told ESPN. "Because if you look at how everything played out, Conor has fought everybody. When he won the 155-pound belt, he dropped the 145-pound belt, which we made him do. He tried not to do it, but he contractually had to let go of the 145-pound belt.

"He became the 155-pound champion, and his next fight was against Floyd Mayweather. He has to defend the title now. So, how has he never defended the title?"

White's closing question seems absurd when you consider the facts. McGregor defeated Jose Aldo in December 2015 for the 145-pound title and instead of defending it, attempted to move up in weight to challenge then-lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos in March 2016. Dos Anjos pulled out due to injury, setting in motion a pair of fights for McGregor at welterweight against Nate Diaz. 

In November 2016, McGregor knocked out new champion Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight belt and was forced to give up his featherweight title shortly after. 

White argued against the idea that McGregor has ever been reluctant to defend the title and urged critics to "look at a piece of paper" and not ignore the timeline of events, which included McGregor taking time off to open 2017 for the birth of his first child and a professional boxing excursion against Mayweather in August. 

"There's some f------ exaggeration in saying the guy has never defended a title," White said. "He fought everybody on his way up 145 pounds. He fought [Chad] Mendes, [Dustin] Poirier. He beat Max Holloway, the only guy to beat Max Holloway in four years.

"It wasn't Conor's fault [dos Anjos] got hurt. It is Conor's fault he did Mayweather, but we decided to do the Mayweather fight and everybody gave a f---. And after the fight, every fighter in the UFC gave him props for representing the sport."

UFC was quick to strip inaugural women's featherweight champion Germane de Randamie of her title in June four months after winning it for refusing to immediately face Cris "Cyborg" Justino. The decision seems hypocritical considering McGregor has never gone out of his way once to defend either title, instead seeking larger paydays and bigger opportunities. 

White's decision to publicly chastise George St-Pierre of late for doing the same thing, despite GSP being transparent about it after voluntarily vacating the middleweight title he won in November, also comes across as contrary to how he has handled McGregor.