Mayweather: McGregor dodging fight
Mayweather claims McGregor is dodging the fight.
I’m not just the face of boxing. I’m the face of MMA. I support all fighters. They go through a lot to get to a certain level…Conor McGregor, I want to tell everybody this, right now; does he really wanna fight? Absolutely not. I’m trying to see if he really wanna fight but we can’t make the fight happen because he’s not his own boss. And I want to world to know this, just two fights ago he was just (tap, tap) tapping out. He was just (tap, tap) quitting. A lot of fighters, legendary fighters, fighters of today, MMA fighters, they call me and say, Floyd do what’s right. Call me what you want to call me but I’m not a quitter. I thought he lost [against Nate Diaz]. If Conor McGregor is kinda stealing the Floyd Mayweather blueprint, the bars with the cars, the jazzy dressing…I mean I can’t knock him. He’s doing what he’s supposed to do. Every fighter piggybacks off of the Mayweather name. I don’t even know him. I seen him (tap, tap) tap out…I’m an old man now I and I’m smart. And the best business move for me is Conor McGregor.
Rutten: McGregor stance weak on left side
Rutten says that McGregor has great hands, but his stance is a weak point.
I’m in love with his hands. He is the guy, one of my favourites to watch. Also, outside of fighting the way he talks. Like with me in interviews, it’s the same story over and over again. But he can make it different every time. He’s one of those guys who constantly changes…You know his stance, because he’s a southpaw. What I thought with Aldo was, if I was Aldo’s coach a year ago, I would have said ‘we’re going to train southpaw’ because there is no way that he can block those low-kicks. If left low-kicks come he can’t block ’em. His stance is too wide and his knees are pointing inside, he can’t block them. It changes the whole game.
Rogan: McGregor ‘best shit-talker in history of combat sports’
Rogan says McGregor is the best trash-talker in combat sports.
He’s the best shit-talker in the history of combat sports. Before him it was Chael Sonnen and Muhammad Ali and now it’s Conor McGregor. He just knows how to say it. When Jeremy Stephens started talking [at the UFC 205 press conference] and Conor just destroyed him with one sentence. I mean, he finds the perfect shit to say.
Khan: Mayweather will fight McGregor and win
Khan says that he believes that Mayweather will come back to fight McGregor, and that Mayweather will win the fight.
If [Mayweather] is coming back, he wants a huge, huge fight, a mega fight, and I think a mega fight would be against someone like McGregor. But with McGregor, he’s not going to be as good in boxing as he is in MMA. It will be a one-sided fight if Mayweather fights him…I met Mayweather and he came over to me and said ‘you’re a great champion, look the fight between me and you didn’t happen. He was very very respectful and said he’s love to work with me in the future, but I just don’t see him coming back.
McGregor trolls Mayweather with ‘Call me CJ Watson!’ taunt
McGregor posts an image to Twitter, showing him holding up an MMA and a boxing belt after defeating a Mayweather. The caption is a reference to Mayweather’s feud with NBA star C.J. Watson, who the boxer believed was sleeping with the mother of his three children – Jose Harris. Mayweather was convicted of domestic abuse towards Harris in 2015 and sentenced to two months in prison.
Call me C.J Watson! https://t.co/9m2Omw4Wca pic.twitter.com/GZMzxxTsbb
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) January 11, 2017
Mayweather claims he offered McGregor £12m to fight
Mayweather says that he offered McGregor £12m to fight.
We tried to make the Conor McGregor fight…My number was a guaranteed $100million (£83m). We’re the A-side and I don’t know how much he has made before but I’m pretty sure he hasn’t made $10m in an MMA bout. But we are willing to give him $15m (£12m), and we can talk about splitting the back-end percentage on PPV. But we’re the A-side. How can a guy talk about $20m or $30m if he’s never made eight or nine million?…Conor McGregor keeps telling everybody he wants the fight. Let’s make it happen…I’m probably interested in [coming out of retirement for] the Conor McGregor fight. I’m a businessman and it makes more business sense.
McGregor appears in second Pegasus ad
McGregor appears in a second ad for Pegasus World Cup Invitational, with Lovitz playing his trainer. In this skit Lobitz introduces an online sweepstakes contest where contestants can win $1 million:
McG: I shite a million bucks every morning!
JL: That must be painful.
https://www.facebook.com/thenotoriousmma/videos/1488003354601292/
Nurmagomedov: All McGregor does is party and make excuses
Nurmagomedov criticizes McGregor’s lifestyle.
@TheNotoriousMMA and conor says he's having a baby when all he does is go to clubs and party excuse after excuse @danawhite @seanshelby
— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) January 9, 2017
Orton disses McGregor
In response to a fan’s Twitter question about McGregor:
@RandyOrton do you think you can whoop @TheNotoriousMMA ass if he transitioned to Wrestling in the WWE ?
— 🙏🙌 (@Chris_The_King2) January 10, 2017
Orton responds:
If he gains 120lbs im here. Until then, #205Live bro https://t.co/XZdWqCvt2V
— Randy Orton (@RandyOrton) January 10, 2017
‘It Was All A Dream’ video
McGregor appears in a high-quality fan-made video, titled It Was All A Dream.
Kavanagh: McGregor fears he will sustain brain injury
After a special event at the Royal College of Surgeons, in Dublin, where Professor Healy addressed more than 50 high-level MMA fighters on the dangers of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive degenerative disease found in athletes with a history of repetitive brain trauma. Kavanagh says that McGregor has concerns about the long-term implications of repeated blows to the head.
It’s a concern of every fighter. At that level of fighting the risk is very real. But I think you can add on two hands the number of clean head shots Conor has taken in 10 years of pro-fighting. His style of fighting answers that, because his style is not brawling. He doesn’t step in the pocket and exchange punches. His style is in and out – he’s very defensive. That style was born through not wanting to lose and not wanting to take head shots, and not wanting to damage the software. [The key is education] We can reach that lofty goal of this being the first generation with no incidents of CTE.
Nunes: ‘I’m going to have two belts like McGregor’
Nunes says she wants to be a two-belt champion, like McGregor.
Honestly, I want to take a little time, enjoy it a little bit but I really look forward to this 145-pound belt. Maybe I’ll go up to fight for the 145-pound belt. We’ll see. Maybe I’m going to have two belts like Conor McGregor.
McGregor-Diaz trade insults in pre-UFC 196 video
McGregor and Diaz trade insults in a newly released interview that was broadcast before UFC 196. Talking about the square-off:
CmG: Nothing, this is just the fight business. He’s lucky he didn’t get his face broke.
ND: You’re lucky you didn’t get choked out with that silly-ass suit mother-f-cker.
CmG: Shut your mouth. Come face-to-face. Come eye-to-eye.
ND: Whatever.
CmG: Putting that first in my face. Afraid to come face-to-face.
ND: Whatever. You’re afraid
CmG: You’ll be left holding that cheek.
ND: Don’t get scared.
McGregor insults clip
McGregor records a series of insults as part of the promotion for The Pegasus World Cup Invitational
Quit watching cat videos in your mother’s basement and enter the sweepstakes. Just think, you could buy yourself a life.
I can smell you through the screen ya smelly bastard ya. Enter the contest and then take a shower, if you even remember how.
Arabic tattoo meaning revealed
The Sun reveals the meaning of an Arabic tattoo that McGregor got on his leg during a drunken holiday in Ayia Napa, when he was 20. Previously, McGregor had claimed not to know the meaning.
This was when I was drunk. That was my first. It could mean anything. Arabic writing was the thing for a while, it was the cool thing to do. I was following the trend back then. Maybe one day I’ll get that covered up, I don’t know. I got it in Ayia Napa. It was like a party kind of… I was young and on holiday. It cost me €20.
According to the paper, the Arabic writing says ‘Cancer’, which fits McGregor’s star sign, which is on July 14. The Cancer star sign runs from June 20 – July 22.
Pegasus Invitational Q&A
As part of McGregor’s promotion of the Pegasus World Cup Invitational, McGregor also answers a Q&A.
Here are more highlights of Conor McGregor's Q&A about the "13th Jockey" pic.twitter.com/H5VQYuIKqx
— Michael Allardyce (@mikedyce) January 4, 2017
Rogan: McGregor, UFC missed out on a huge payday
Rogan says both McGregor and the UFC have missed out on a huge payday by not selecting Nate Diaz’s brother Nick as McGregor’s next opponent.
I think they missed the boat if they want to make the f-cking biiiiig money. I think it’s Nick Diaz versus Conor McGregor. They fight at 170 [pounds]. It’s a great story. I love a great story. Big brother steps in. Come on, son.
Nurmagomedov: McGregor ‘just a good boxer’
Nurmagomedov says he doesn’t rate McGregor as a good overall fighter and he wins by taking fights that suit his style.
About athlete, about like phenomenal fighter, I don’t think [McGregor] is. He’s just a good boxer and he all the time takes fights, you know, like a good style (for him). Like Eddie Alvarez and Jose Aldo – like this.
Mayorga: I’ll ‘disintegrate’ McGregor in boxing
Mayorga, a former welterweight and light-middleweight world champion, challenges McGregor to fight.
I admit that he’s has been very good at mixed martial arts, but in boxing he is making mistakes. As soon as I grab him, I’m going to break him down, I’m going to disintegrate him. If you are looking for me, you will find me. I have not fought, as they say, with [scrubs and journeymen], with a ghost record like [McGregor] has. But if he wants to fight and he’s looking for me – he’s going to find me. Let him tell me when he wants us to fight and where he wants to do it. In boxing, when we step in the ring – he’s going to know that I’m a man and he’s a woman.
SI.com’s MMA Fighter Of The Year
McGregor is awarded SI.com’s MMA Fighter Of The Year.
Entering 2016, McGregor was established as the brightest star in the sport, and by the end of the year he was the sport as he transcended into the mainstream and earned S.comI’s MMA fighter of the year award. His pursuit of two titles was a storyline that played out over nearly the whole calendar year and transfixed fans. He headlined the biggest event in the sport’s history with one of its most iconic moments. Even though he was temporarily sidetracked from his ultimate goal by Nate Diaz, he smashed pay-per-view records in every one of his fights…In pop culture, McGregor made appearances on late night television shows like Conan and garnered a role in the forthcoming season of Game of Thrones. He played a character in the latest Call of Duty game. He was tapped for a role in the new xXx movie before pulling out to focus on the Diaz rematch. His trademark strut has become iconic in sports with world-class athletes around the globe mimicking the champion. Cristiano Ronaldo went and trained with McGregor in Las Vegas and McGregor went to Jennifer Lopez’s birthday party.