Helwani: The UFC ‘epically botched’ McGregor’s belt drop
On The MMA Hour Helwani criticises the UFC’s handling of the removal of McGregor’s belt.
They botched it. They botched it epically. They botched it because if you’re going to go ahead and strip Conor, then Holloway /Pettis needs to be for the real belt, and you say to Jose Aldo that you’re getting the first crack at the champion of this interim title, you’ve been talking about retirement, you’ve been talking about not fighting again, you’ve been talking about throwing fights, we don’t know the state of your career is, so we’re making Holloway/Pettis the real championship fight, because we just stripped the biggest draw and the biggest star of his belt. It’s a disservice to Holloway and Pettis, who are going to have an amazing fight in a couple of weeks, it’s a disservice to Jose Aldo, and it’s a disservice to Conor McGregor.
Knight: McGregor ‘has no heart’
UFC featherweight Knight says that McGregor’s naked choke at the hands of Nate Diaz shows his weakness.
Don’t get me wrong, Conor McGregor is good. He’s got awesome, amazing stand-up, but you know what it’s going to take to beat Conor McGregor? It’s going to take someone with a chin who is not scared to fight that man. You got a chin and you’re not scared to fight him – you are going to whoop his ass. He has no heart, we seen that in the Diaz fight – first time he gets a hand around his neck, he tapped in four seconds…You get him down and you put him in a bad position – you are going to see that man fold…He has no ground game and what ground game he does have, it’s limited. And about that much [pinches his fingers] heart, that’s all he’s got. A man who is going to tap in about three and half seconds to a choke, didn’t even try to pull the arm down, didn’t even try to fight the choke – that’s not a true champion to me.
I honestly think that if the Jose [Aldo] fight happened again, Jose can beat him. Jose Aldo let the man get inside his head and got him all riled up before the fight. He ran in there, did some stupid stuff and got caught…I pray that you put him in there with Tony Ferguson, because Tony Ferguson is going to treat him look like a punk.
UFC featherweight Jason "The Kid" Knight says Conor McGregor has no heart and wouldn't stand a chance against a fighter like Tony Ferguson pic.twitter.com/dVw7GBhdYq
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) November 30, 2016
Cormier: Don’t blame me for McGregor belt loss
Cormier says he is not to blame for McGregor being stripped of his belt after his injury caused the UFC to elevate the co-main event between Anthony Pettis and Max Holloway into a UFC interim featherweight title fight.
Just think about how ridiculous that is, that it’s my fault Conor McGregor got stripped. I didn’t say ‘I’m not going to fight so he can lose his belt.’ It doesn’t matter to me.
Kavanagh confirms McGregor-Mayweather talks
Coach Kavanagh confirms McGregor and Mayweather are in talks for a potential boxing fight in 2017.
If the odds were good enough, I’d put a few quid on it for next year. I’m not breaking any news saying that there’s conversations going back and forth for the last year or so. Is it getting any close? I don’t know, but it certainly wouldn’t surprise me that it’s going to happen. He’s 49-0. I’m sure he wants that 50th fight. It’s a nice number. Right now, ask the average guy on the street, who do you want to see Mayweather fight, what fight’s going to get the most interest, and it would be a superfight with Conor. Certainly stranger things have happened in combat sports than a Mayweather-Conor fight. I wouldn’t be surprised by it, so who knows? It’s one of the many options that are there for Conor, so let’s see how the next couple of weeks go.
Agent backs McGregor’s equity demand
Attar, McGregor’s agent, supports his fighter’s demand for equity in UFC. The two pay-per-view events McGregor headlined in 2015 brought in over a quarter of the UFC’s pay-per-view buys — the equivalent of $50M in earnings; in 2016 McGregor has doubled his pay-per-view buys accounting for $100 million in earnings.
When you’re starting to get more and more information on the economics of the sport, and when you really start to learn how much Conor drove that business and that growth, it’s a fair question for any businessman to ask: if he’s getting his fair share. Especially since there’s a precedent now where active athletes in other sports are getting ownership in a company you’re helping drive to the next level.
McGregor and Attar have yet to speak with Ari Emanuel and WME-IMG’s other top execs since they joined Dana White at the company.
We want to understand if that’s going to be different now. The time has come for all of us to sit down and have that discussion.
Announces Belfast appearance
McGregor will return to Belfast for a ticket-only event in The Devenish complex on Friday, December 2. Tickets will be available from The Devenish reception from 12noon on Wednesday, November 30, on a first come first served basis and are priced at £25.
Kavanagh: McGregor belt decision ‘ridiculous’
Kavanagh says the way McGregor’s belt was taken from him was badly handled.
For me personally, I was very disappointed by the way [the UFC] went about doing it. It was a very messy set of circumstances which led to doing it. They lost a main event and then they haphazardly threw together a new main event. They felt they had to make this for a title in order for it to sell so they brought in another interim title that Jose Aldo already has and then bumped Jose Aldo up to the current undisputed champion, which just seems ridiculous to me. Conor has only been 11 months since he won that title. There have been many, many examples of fighters waiting 15 months, 18 months before defending it. He’s 11 months and they stripped him of it. I thought it was very shortsighted by the UFC how they went about doing it.
Criticises McGregor taking time off for pregnancy
Ferguson criticises McGregor for taking time off for his girlfriend’s pregnancy.
That dude does not want any part of me. That dude got beat by No. 5 in the world, Nate Diaz. And everybody’s talking about him being the best and I’m like ‘Dude you got beat by No. 5. I’m No. 3 and No. 2. I’m the only name you haven’t thrown out there in the wind. It’s just like a fart though and it’s going to come right back at you and hit you hard!..You’ve got a little pass from me. Go enjoy your family time. Do your thing, enjoy your life, you have some money so go ahead and go spend it. And while you’re doing that, I’m going to stay over here, wrecking this shit with my crew. And we’re going to go on to the next stage which is, when you come back, we’re going to wreck your ass…When I had my baby and all my stuff, I didn’t take a leave of absence. I manned up! I did my thing and I fought. I’m just here doing what I have to do.
WWE taunts McGregor’s Billy Strut
WWE posts to Twitter to show that McMahon, not McGregor, originated the Billionaire “Billy” Strut.
.@UFC star @TheNotoriousMMA's adopted billionaire strut is great, but it pales in comparison to that of the genuine article – @VinceMcMahon! pic.twitter.com/OA5ptoUm9W
— WWE (@WWE) November 27, 2016
Aldo ‘knew’ McGregor’s belt would be stripped
Aldo says he plans to defend his title in February or March, most likely against the winner of December’s interim title bout between Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis at UFC 206. After that, Aldo is targeting a rematch with McGregor.
I think both are very tough fights for him, either at lightweight with Khabib [Nurmagomedov] or a rematch with me. So he chose to let go of mine. It’s no problem. Of course, first I want to do a [title] defense and then, yes, I will want to pursue a fight with [McGregor]…I think I’ve always been the champion, and I will always be the champion. As long as I’m at featherweight, no matter what happens, I’ll keep being the champion. So this, for me, was something that was already certain. The minute I lost, I knew, the next day, the belt would be mine again. It was just a matter of time…That was a fact I knew would happen, that he would drop a belt, my belt or the lightweight. It’s a tough fight for him at lightweight, with Khabib [Nurmagomedov], or a rematch with me, so he preferred to drop mine (belt). No problem…I lost that fight because of an accident. I knew that I would win a rematch, that I would be champion again. It’s not my fault that he’s such a pu–y he was never the champion. I don’t see myself losing to anyone in this division or any other [division]….Of course, [it was] not the way I wanted, but I’m happy because I know I’m the champion…now we’re already making the arrangements to fight in the future. I think maybe in February or March we’ll be fighting hopefully. I don’t want to wait too long because it’s been a while since my last fight. I don’t want to go too long without fighting.”
Kavanagh: Woodley ‘not Goliath’
Kavanagh says McGregor could beat Woodley:
…I don’t see what other people are saying, ‘There’s no way Conor can touch this guy.’ There is. No one is perfect. There’s openings there. Of course, he’s a bigger man, he’s got more power and you’ve gotta be super careful. But Conor trains with big guys like this…He’s not enormous. He’s not some Goliath man. He’s a little bit bigger. Conor would have reach on him, he would have technique on him in the striking, for sure. He’d have to of course deal with that power. … I certainly don’t in my head go, ‘Oh my God, no. We couldn’t possibly beat him.’ It’s a doable fight.
Releases McGregor fight poster
Despite his next bout being more likely to be with Tony Ferguson for an interim title, Nurmagomedov releases a mock up of a poster for a fight with McGregor in Russia. Asked whether he will fight Tony Ferguson in his next bout:
100%. There are already negotiations, 90 % sure it will happen. Why? Because Conor is pregnant, he has to give birth, and then recover until summer. I can’t wait until summer, I have missed out on 2 years of my career, I don’t want to miss out long periods of time again.
https://www.facebook.com/KhabibTheEagle/posts/1013583955419050:0
McGregor vacates featherweight belt, Aldo becomes champ
The UFC confirms McGregor has vacated his featherweight title, and that Aldo, who defeated Frankie Edgar for the interim title at UFC 200 in July 2016, is now the undisputed champion of the division. The UFC 206 main event on Dec. 10 between Max Holloway and former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis will be contested for the interim featherweight title.
https://www.facebook.com/UFCUnitedKingdom/videos/1171354409567174/
McGregor ‘controls the fight, hurts people’
Referee McCarthy talks about McGregor’s performance in UFC 205.
Conor McGregor, whether you like him or don’t like him, the man can fight. He is so calm at what he’s doing. He controls the fight. Eddie probably did not fight the right fight for him against someone like Conor. I think he kinda got drawn into the whole thing of ‘I wanna beat you up’. I know what the guy has got. Everyone always wants to sit there and doubt someone [but] Conor McGregor has proved… the guy has got talent and he’s got power. His left hand, he hurts people all the time. They only guy who has stayed up with that left hand – but was multiple times knocked down – was Nate Diaz, and who knocks Nate Diaz out?
McGregor to be stripped of featherweight title
Helwani reports that the UFC wants Pettis to fight Holloway for the interim 145 pound title in December in Toronto. This would be the main card fight after the Daniel Cornier-Anthony Johnson fight was cancelled due to injury. This means that the organisation will strip McGregor of his featherweight belt, reinstating it to Jose Aldo.
As of now, plan is Anthony Pettis vs. Max Holloway for the interim 145 lbs. title happening 12/10 in Toronto. That's what the UFC wants.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) November 26, 2016
That's per multiple sources. Should they finalize it, & it's close, Jose Aldo would become the new 145 lbs champ. McGregor? That's, well…
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) November 26, 2016
UFC has been pushing to strip McGregor of the 145 title for some time. Legally, they can. Would be interesting to see how he responds.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) November 26, 2016
Wants McGregor to motivate Irish rugby team
Outgoing manager Kearney says McGregor is the Irish sportsman the Irish rugby players would most like to deliver a motivational speech. Previously, McGregor recorded a motivational message for Ireland’s soccer team. Kearney:
I organised Usain Bolt, Rory McIlroy, Barry McGuigan, Niall Quinn, Sonia O’Sullivan, lots of good sportspeople, to talk to the lads but the one person they really want to get in now is Conor McGregor. They felt I might be able to pull that off before I left. I’ve a connection through someone I know to his coach John Kavanagh…There’s a lot of admiration [for McGregor]. When it comes to the talk, at the end of the day Conor is trying to sell tickets and pay-per-views but beneath it all he’s a seriously good athlete. Our guys admire seriously good athletes from around the world and they would like to find out how he mentally prepares for his fights.
Henry: McGregor must beat Nurmagomedov, Edgar to be GOAT
Edgar’s coach says McGregor still has to get past Edgar and Nurmagomedov to be considered the greatest fighter of all time. Henry:
I’d say he’d be the greatest if he beat Frankie and Khabib. Then I’d put him as the greatest. But until he does that, I still think he’s one of the greats…He’s never defended the featherweight title. He says he’s cleaned out the division, but until you fight Frankie, you haven’t cleaned it out. If he fought Frankie he’d be able to say that as he’s already fought Holloway, he’s already fought Aldo and he’s already fought Mendes. But he’s never fought Frankie. I think Frankie has been a staple as one of the best fighters ever. And he’s definitely a staple at 145lbs. It doesn’t matter that he beat Aldo and Frankie didn’t because you could say, ‘whoever beat Nate Diaz can beat McGregor’ and that’s not true. That’s just stupid even saying that.
‘Notorious b.i.g balls’
McGregor tweets a selfie.
Notorious b.i.g balls pic.twitter.com/rQcgZLiZv9
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) November 25, 2016
Posts video of opponents’ comments before and after fights
McGregor posts a video of his opponents’ comments before and after fighting him.
Dustin Poirier before: To tell you the honest truth, I’ve fought tougher guys.
Dustin Poirier after: He moves well. He’s hard to read and his timing’s different to everybody else. He moves differently. He’s good and he’s a great athlete.
Wants to finish McGregor’s ‘hype’
Nurmagomedov says a fight with McGregor is not about the money.
I care only about belt. I have a lot of money…I want to take him down, speak with him, slap him, make him nervous … like, ‘Hey, get up! Let’s go! Where is your boxing?’ … play with him and make him give up. This is what I want. But I don’t want to finish him 1st round, 2nd round, 3rd round … I want to fight with him for 25 minutes like five rounds and I want to make him look very bad. And finish his hype.
He also talks about his run in with McGregor backstage at UFC 205.
When I finish my weigh in I meet him. He watch me I ask him, ‘why you watch?’. I tell him ‘I am not Eddie Alvarez or Tyron Woodley’. If somebody watch me like crazy I can go crazy too.