Johnston: I should be ahead of McGregor in pound-for-pound rankings
Johnston says he should be ranked above McGregor in UFC pound-for-pound rankings.
You know what, I believe [I should be ahead of McGregor in pound-for-pound rankings], I think I am. I think going out there and showing everything in my last fight. I showed I had a good clinch. TKO’d Henry Cejudo. Joseph Benavidez just went three rounds with him even though it was an improved Henry Cejudo. But, those guys never really took the fight to different places. Those guys didn’t really fight in the clinch, or use the wrestling aspect, or the grappling…I’ve knocked people out from the clinch. I’ve submitted people from armbars, Kimura, last-second armbars. I’ve knocked people out with one-hand punch.
Taoiseach supports McGregor
Kenny, the Taoiseach (leader of) the Irish parliament, gives his backing to McGregor being awarded the title of Irish Sports Personality of the Year.
Conor McGregor is a fabulous athlete, he’s a no-nonsense man obviously and he’s a worthy winner of the Sports Personality of the Year. Sometimes when you see the fights in the cage, you might say it’s brought boxing, or fighting, to a new dimension here, but McGregor is a world superstar and he’s top of that particular category, or two categories, at the moment.
Coach: Aldo not lying about McGregor fight
Pederneiras, Aldo’s coach says the UFC should confirm that Aldo is going to fight McGregor.
I think it’s time for the UFC to say something and back up everything we’re saying. It sounds like we’re just saying stuff, but throughout all of this I’ve received messages, e-mails with proposals, everything. On our end, Aldo is in no way a liar. I think it’s time for people to know the truth, and that’s the truth. You can ask [UFC matchmaker] Sean Shelby if there’s a single lie in everything I’m saying. Our intention was always to defend the belt. Because a champion who doesn’t defend at least once doesn’t really stamp his championship belt. [Aldo] himself said it: I won my belt, I’ll defend it now – this in a conversation between us – and we’ll go after Conor. When Sean Shelby told me the fight wasn’t happening on Feb. 11, I said, ‘Sean, we’re now in a complicated situation. Our plans for this year would be this fight, challenging the No. 1 [lightweight] challenger, which would be Khabib – 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 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’. The only request that I have is that, humbly, either Khabib or Ferguson take the fight.“In case both have injury issues that I don’t know of, which I understand, that the fight is directly with Conor
Ferguson: ‘We’re going to wreck McGregor’s ass’
Ferguson says McGregor is no match for him.
Honestly, people are going to do what they’re going to do. This is the fight game. I’m not worried or scared about absolutely anybody who’s not talking about me. That dude (McGregor) does not want any part of me. That dude got beat by a No. 5 in the world, Nate Diaz. Everybody’s talking about him being the best, the best, the best. I’m like, dude, you got beat by No. 5. I’m No. 2. I’m the only name that he hasn’t thrown out there in the wind. He doesn’t want any part of this. So it’s like I said, go ahead. You got a little pass from me. Go enjoy your family time. Do you thing and enjoy your life. You have some money, go ahead and go spend it. Do your thing, relax, enjoy your time, so I don’t fight you. And while you’re doing that, I’m going to keep over here wrecking this shit, me and my crew. And we’re going to go onto the next stage, which is when you come back, we’re going to wreck your ass.
White: Diaz trilogy fight could ‘ruin’ McGregor
White says he doesn’t want McGregor to fight a “trilogy” fight with Diaz.
The problem with the rubber match is Diaz is a 170-pounder. He’s a massive guy. Conor is a very talented guy, he’s very, very good. Every time he goes out there he looks better… [But] we should have never done it in the first place. That’s what weight classes are for. They wanted to do it, we did it. They wanted to do it again, we did it again. They’re 1-1. There’s only so many of those wars you can be in in your career. It takes a lot out of you. Some guys go into wars like that and they’re never the same after it. Look at Meldrick Taylor when he fought Julio Cesar Chavez. He was never the same after that fight. We’ve had those type of fights too. I believe that Rory MacDonald was never the same after the Robbie Lawler fight. That fight ruined him. I don’t want to do that to someone special like Conor McGregor. It’s just not right.
‘Always in shape’ selfie
McGregor appears in a selfie in skin-coloured shorts, in front of a Lamborghini Huracan.
always in shape pic.twitter.com/XUztY9MeRf
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) December 24, 2016
Fans doing McGregor impression interrupted by…McGregor
A couple of McGregor fans outside a Dublin pub, pretending to throwing out a few McGregor moves, are shocked when the man himself stops his car beside them.
You’ll do nuthin!
‘I am going to break his face’
McGregor posts a message to Mayweather.
https://www.facebook.com/thenotoriousmma/posts/1471404292927865:0
White: McGregor will ‘kick Mayweather’s ass’
White comments on Mayweather’s recent videos criticizing and calling out McGregor.
Floyd’s about this tall (points towards the ground), his hands are like peanut brittle, he has to wrap them a million times so he doesn’t break his hands. Floyd better hope he don’t run into Conor on the street. Let me tell you what, not only will Conor kick his ass, he’ll kick the (expletive) out of everyone of his security guards, too. I would love to be there when Floyd tries to slap Conor McGregor. I promise you, Floyd, you will never try to walk up and slap Conor McGregor and you know it, too…Let me tell you what, that fight will happen before Floyd walks up and tries to slap Conor, I promise you that, too. He’ll kick his head to another planet and then he’ll murder every one of his security guards…I don’t take away from what Floyd’s accomplished in boxing, but he’s stepping way over thinking he’s going to slap Conor. It’s hilarious.
White: McGregor-Nurmagomedov fight could be next
White says McGregor and Nurmagomedov could be the next lightweight fight. Currently, Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson are in discussions to fight for the interim lightweight title in McGregor’s absence, but nothing is official yet.
We’re focused very heavily on Russia right now. First of all, there’s tons of talent coming out of Russia, and a lot of fans. There’s a fighter named Khabib who’s from Russia, and he’s insanely popular. The next fight could be Conor vs. Khabib.
Khan ‘willing to set aside friendship’ to fight McGregor
As he announces the launch of a new MMA league in Britain, Khan says he is willing to fight McGregor in MMA.
MMA is big and getting bigger. Fighters like Conor McGregor are making a lot of noise. MMA is hitting some high numbers on pay per view. I am always going to be involved in boxing but to have my foot in the door with MMA is brilliant…McGregor is a massive name in MMA and I’m a big name in boxing, so, globally, I think it would be a massive fight.
Kavanagh: It’s bizarre the new UFC owners haven’t called McGregor
Kavanagh says it’s bizarre that the new owners of UFC haven’t contacted McGregor yet.
He made it clear after his last fight that he’s keen to talk business with the UFC’s new owners,” he said. “I find it utterly bizarre that they’ve yet to make contact. Maybe they’re spending their time trying to get a solid framework in place. I’m not sure. It was much simpler in the old days in dealing with just Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta. Now you’re almost wondering if you have to ring Mark Wahlberg or one of the other investors. Maybe Conan O’Brien is the new matchmaker. Who knows? These are strange, but interesting, times. We’ll have to see how this plays out. Certainly as the most valuable athlete on the UFC roster, you would think that he’d be heavily involved in these things but that hasn’t been the case yet.
White: McGregor should buy UFC equity
White says McGregor could receive equity from the UFC, but thinks the Irishman should simply buy his own.
I think anything is possible. A lot of people bought into equity. Conor’s got enough money to buy a piece. If Conor really wants to come in, come on in. A lot of people put their money up and bought in.
White: McGregor is the definition of ‘pound-for-pound’ fighter
White says McGregor is underrated as a pound-for-pound fighter.
Conor is a very talented fighter, he’s very, very good. Every time he goes out there, he looks better. And when you talk about the pound-for-pound, they don’t have Conor McGregor as the pound-for-pound. The media does the ratings. When you talk about what the pound-for-pound really means, how is it not Conor McGregor? The guy was the ’45-pound champion, ’55-pound champion, and beat a guy at 170. That’s what pound-for-pound really means.
Moses selfie
McGregor posts a selfie.
Moses pic.twitter.com/3HLxsUFYGJ
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) December 23, 2016
Mir: McGregor ‘wouldn’t last even a round’ with Nurmagomedov
Mir, a former two-time UFC heavyweight champion, says that the Russian MMA market is different to the USA, to McGregor’s benefit.
In the US a lot of people are more interested in the story behind what’s going on rather than what the fight is. I just think they watch the fight to see the result at the end. It’s an afterthought more than it is a primary drive, whereas you go to other places, especially like Russia where fighting is actually a passion not necessarily just ‘who-hates-who’. That’s why Conor McGregor does so well. He’s a good fighter but let’s face it: if Khabib [Nurmagomedov] and him face off, I wouldn’t bet on Conor to last even past a round. But he makes more money than Khabib because he has such a great mouth…Khabib has stayed true to his character, he’s a softly-spoken guy and I think he does all his talking with his fists and he’s not getting title shots and he’s not getting talked about in the US media as much. A guy who is 24-0, amongst the fighters we know he’s probably the best guy really in the world at lightweight. I don’t think anybody questions his ability to destroy guys and how powerful he is. But ESPN isn’t knocking his door down to give him interviews and he’s not doing commercials, Conor is…Conor’s making millions of dollars fighting and so I think Khabib now sees that and realizes he needs to start talking more. And here, he goes out and destroys Michael Johnson in his last fight [and] made him look like he shouldn’t even be in the top ten.
White: McGregor-Mayweather fight will ‘never happen’
White says McGregor and Mayweather will not fight.
Well there’s a lot of talk going on about this now. But let’s look at it this way. If they really fought, it would be ugly. It would be ugly for Floyd. Conor has more weapons and tools than Floyd Mayweather does…If they were to box, look at Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather. It was a fight that everyone wanted to see for years. It took almost 10 years to make that fight and they are the same sport. There’s no way this fight would ever happen.
Woodley: McGregor almost ‘brought out the Ferguson in me’
Woodley says McGregor’s backstage confrontation with him at UFC 205 brought out memories of his hometown of Ferguson.
When he got in my face and I looked at him I said, ‘what’s up?’ At that moment he realized I ain’t that dude. I’m really about that life. I’m really from that life. My family is from that life. I’m actually one of the sharper tools in the box that haven’t been in the streets like that but I have family members, close loved ones, that that’s all they know. So I’ve been around that a lot and I try not to take myself back to those dark areas, I try to stay sophisticated, stay professional but a few people can take you out of that element and bring that Ferguson back out of you and he almost did it.
And urges McGregor to bring it on:
if Conor want it he can get it. He knows how to get in touch with Dana [White], he knows how to get the contract set, and he really don’t want to fight. I’m not saying he should want to fight because I’m not a little dude. I ain’t Nate Diaz. Nate Diaz is not a welterweight. He did not do well at welterweight because he was undersized and these dudes are real gorillas in this weight class…When you come up to this weight brother, it’s real power, it’s real people that will put real hands on you, that’ll put you down to the canvas and you will not get up unless I let you up.
Aldo expects interim lightweight title fight, wants McGregor rematch
Despite being current featherweight champion, Aldo says he expects his next fight to be for the interim lightweight after Max Holloway refused to fight him at UFC 208.
No, the Brooklyn fight is not happening. I now expect and believe I will be fighting in early March. Either March 3 or March 4, I can’t remember. I believe they will soon announce an interim lightweight title fight with me. They’ve been trying to find me an opponent, and surprise, surprise at least one has already turned down the fight against me. I’m waiting to see who they will find.
He says he will go after McGregor in the lightweight division.
I’m flexible about my opponent. I even said, ‘Why don’t I go up in weight class and fight the No. 1 or No. 2 contender and start setting up a rematch with McGregor?’ There was some enthusiasm for that idea, but my understanding is, some fighters turned down that fight.
Aldo: McGregor is ‘two faced’, ‘a clown’
In an interview with Helwani, Aldo talks about McGregor’s claim to be the real featherweight champ.
First of all, I never stopped being the champion. When I lost to Conor, he should have rematched me right away. Like I’ve always said and done, the champion is the guy who defends the belt against all challengers. Guys who run from title defenses are not champions. All Conor did was he beat the champion. But he never did what he had to do to become the champion. He’s never been the champion of the featherweight division…He’s two-faced. He says a lot of stuff to the press, but behind-the-scenes, he turns down fights left and right. He picks opponents, he picks events. He’s not willing to face challengers the way a champion should be ready to face challengers. That’s not a true champion. He spent a year without defending the belt, so his math doesn’t add up when he says, I was the champion for less than 12 months. He wasn’t the champion at all. He never defended the belt. He wanted to stall an entire division. That’s not being a champion. I’ve never seen Conor as the featherweight champion. He’s not the champion now. I’ve never stopped being the featherweight champion. I went to bed one night believing the UFC was going to announce my rematch with Conor McGregor and I woke up to read the news that they booked Eddie Alvarez instead. My conversations with the UFC were, ‘It’s happening. We’re booking it.’ And then literally overnight something changed without my participation. The bottom line is, Conor doesn’t want to fight me. There’s nothing else I can do. I don’t think there’s anything else the UFC can do. If he keeps saying no and keeps running away, he’s going to keep running away. He’s a clown.