Russian MMA fighter shot, beaten and choked in ‘row over Conor McGregor’
Mirzaev, a Russian fighter with 17 wins out of 18 contests, is ambushed as he left his home in Moscow on New Year’s Eve. He is shot three times with a high-powered BB gun, including once in the face, in Moscow, as well as being beaten with a baseball bat and choked with a chain. Items were also stolen from his house. Mirzaev is in a stable condition after surgery to remove the bullets. According to a source, the argument got started when Mirzaev was in a club with Lobov, who trains with McGregor. The fighters were taunted by men from Dagestan in southern Russia who said McGregor was afraid to face undefeated Dagestani fighter Nurmagomedov. Nightclub staff stopped a full-blown brawl but the men “decided to finish the job” and were “waiting at his house”. However Lobov, denies the claims and the attack remains under police investigation:
I did meet [Mirzaev] in Russia. I am so shocked that this happened to him but [it’s] nothing to do with me.
Garbrandt storms out of Cruz head-to-head interview
Garbrandt storms out of a head-to-head interview with Cruz after talk between the two turned to Garbrandt’s girlfriend and Cruz commenting on her Instagram. Cruz:
Keep your fling on a string. She shouldn’t be hollering at me on social media. Keep her to yourself. As far as I’m concerned, I did you and her a favor. She obviously wears the pants in the relationship or else she wouldn’t be having to defend you.
Garabrandt:
I’ll come across there right now. You’re a room away.
Cruz:
C’mon, turd. Let’s go…He has to do this, because this is what an alpha, a savage does.
Report: Diaz offered interim title fight with Nurmagomedov
With Tony Ferguson appearing to drop out of UFC 209, Anna Jane Kesington reports that the interim title fight with Nurmagomedov has been offered to Diaz.
Nate Diaz has been offered an interim title fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 209. The fight was originally offered to Tony Ferguson, but he was asking for too much money.
Nunes cancels lunch due to illness
Nunes cancels a media lunch due to illness. It is reported that she will have recovered by the time of her fight with Rousey, in two weeks.
Amanda Nunes was supposed to at the UFC 207 media lunch in LA, but UFC said she’s a bit under the weather. Should be fine for fight, though.
— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) December 20, 2016
McGregor painting stolen
O’Loughlin, an Irish painter, says a large print of McGregor was taken from the Balla Bán Art Gallery in the Westbury Mall near Grafton Street on Sunday, and that Christmas shoppers possibly witnessed the theft.
I just got a call from the gallery yesterday to say, [the person worked there] turned his back to chat to someone and when he looked back it was gone. It is not a small painting, so surely somebody saw the person with it. It is a hard thing to carry around without being noticed. Of course I am annoyed, but I am relieved it was not the original. It took three and a half months to paint with the tattoo taking a good proportion of that. We don’t do many prints, so it is frustrating. I don’t hold out much hope of getting it back unfortunately. The print would have been around €300. [For the original] I’ve been offered €7,000 for it but turned it down. I would like to hang on to it, unless of course Conor himself came looking for it.
Would love to catch the f**k@r who stole my Conor McGregor from the @BallaBanArt gallery in the Westbury mall.If u saw anything let me know pic.twitter.com/2g0wT9fgmT
— Niall O'Loughlin Artist (@nialloloughlin) December 19, 2016
The Weeknd, McGregor meet
McGregor posts a selfie with the Weeknd.
STARBOYS pic.twitter.com/qqrYOL7rkF
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) December 19, 2016
Trump meets tech leaders
Trump and Pence meet with tech industry leaders at Trump Tower. Trump:
This is a truly amazing group of people. I won’t tell you the hundreds of calls we’ve had asking to come to this meeting. I’m here to help you folks do well. And you’re doing well right now and I’m very honored by the bounce. They’re all talking about the bounce. So right now everybody in this room has to like me — at least a little bit — but we’re going to try and have that bounce continue.
Trump, West meet
Trump and West meet at Trump Tower in New York City. West makes no comment. Trump:
We’ve been friends for a long time. We discussed life.
"We've been friends for a long time": Kanye West and President-elect Trump appear together at Trump Tower https://t.co/ib5qF99kHR pic.twitter.com/fE1bX0lWph
— CNN International (@cnni) December 13, 2016
Meets with suitmaker
McGregor meets with David August, his suitmaker.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BN7ISskBer5/
Alejandro Gonzalez Jr found dead age 23
Gonzalez is found dead alongside two others in a jeep near his home in Guadalajara. Reports of the incident suggest he was “executed”.
John Glenn dies at 95
Glenn dies at a hospital in Columbus, Ohio, surrounded by his children and wife of 73 years. He had been hospitalised for the prior week. He is expected to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.
Source: McGregor will play pirate in GOT
According to sources, McGregor will play a pirate belonging to Euron Greyjoy’s crew, on the ship Silence. The part is a reportedly a small cameo and McGregor does not speak.
Chisora throws a table at Whyte
During their pre-fight press conference Chisora throws a table at White. The incident was prompted after Whyte threatens Chisora’s life. Chisora:
If you think I’m a pussy, a punk, you tell me right now. Listen, I am the baddest man you’ll ever meet.
Gore, Trump, Ivanka meet for climate talks
Gore meets with Trump and Ivanka to discuss climate change at Trump Tower. Ivanka reportedly wants to make climate change her signature issue. Gore:
I had a lengthy and very productive session with the President-elect. It was a sincere search for areas of common ground. I had a meeting beforehand with Ivanka Trump. The bulk of the time was with the President-elect, Donald Trump. I found it an extremely interesting conversation, and to be continued, and I’m just going to leave it at that.
McGregor to appear in Game of Thrones
The Belfast newspaper Sunday Life says McGregor has filmed a cameo for the next season of Game Of Thrones, which is filming in Belfast and other locations. It is not known what McGregor’s role will be. Source:
It’s been agreed that McGregor will appear in one of the remaining two seasons of Game of Thrones. He was headhunted as it were by HBO, as one of the Game of Thrones directors is a huge UFC fan. They believed that he would be a perfect fit for the show.
Whitney punches ring girl after defeat
As it is announced that Whitney has lost his Titan FC 42 bout to Farkhad Sharipov with scores of 49-46, 48-47 and 48-47, he throws a punch out of frustration which lands right on the ring girl’s face. Titan FC:
In the immediate aftermath of losing a very close title fight at Titan FC 42 Andrew Whitney threw a punch out of frustration which unintentionally hit one of our ring card girls. Our ring card girl was attended to by the ringside doctor and officials. She indicated she was fine and was more surprised by the punch than injured…We have spoken with Andrew Whitney and his management and are taking appropriate actions to make sure this unforeseen incident is not repeated.
Trump, Petraeus discuss Secretary of State position
After an hour-long meeting with Petraeus regarding the Secretary of State position, Trump tweets:
Just met with General Petraeus–was very impressed!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 28, 2016
Petraeus:
[President-elect Trump] basically walked us around the world [in our discussion.] He showed a great grasp of the variety of challenges that are out there and some of the opportunities as well.
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
Fidel Castro dies age 90
Fidel Castro dies age 90. Raul Castro announces the death of his brother on state television. He says there are to be several days of official mourning. Castro was the longest serving non-royal leader of the 20th Century.
The commander in chief of the Cuban revolution died at 22:29 hours this evening (03:29 GMT Saturday). Towards victory, always!
Source: Ross chosen as Commerce secretary
A senior transition official says that Ross, a billionaire, is Trump’s pick for Commerce secretary. If chosen, Ross would oversee nearly 47,000 employees and a budget of roughly $8 billion. The department represents the interests of U.S. businesses domestically and abroad as the head at Commerce. His department would be among those tasked with carrying out the Trump administration’s stated goal of protecting U.S. workers and pushing back against globalisation.