EliteXC has taken its lightweight title away from Karl James Noons, EliteXC Head of Fight Operations Jeremy Lappen announced Friday.

“We are stripping KJ of his championship belt for refusing to defend against (Nick) Diaz,” Lappen said in a news release. “It’s a very unfortunate situation but we cannot have belt-holders who refuse to fight the top contenders. We want champions who will fight anyone, anytime, anyplace. That’s the mentality all champions should have.”

The move is the latest in an ongoing battle between EliteXC and Noons, who captured the EliteXC belt when he stopped Diaz on a cut in November 2007.

“I don’t understand why (Noons) would turn down a chance to be a headliner on CBS on Oct. 4,” Lappen said. “KJ then turned down the fight again when we offered him a headlining spot on our next Showtime date against Nick. From my view, it is a fight against a top-named opponent in Diaz.”

In August, however, Noons told Sherdog.com that compensation was his central issue with EliteXC.

“I always wanted to fight Nick Diaz,” Noons had said. “It’s the most marketable fight for me, the best style fight for me. I think the fans want to see it. But you have to pay for something you want to see. … It is about the money and how (EliteXC was) paying somebody I already beat three times more.”

Lappen said Friday that EliteXC would announce a fight for the vacant lightweight title in the near future.

“KJ has two more fights remaining on his contract,” he said, “so we are still looking forward to having him fight for us again soon, but not as our world champion.”