Next fight to be decided ‘within days’
Coach Kavanagh says that McGregor will decide on his next fight when he returns to Ireland in the next few days. On the potential of a fight with Alvarez:
It’s a great fight…It’s a pretty straightforward fight for Conor to be honest. Will he get it? I can tell you that we’re in talks. It will be decided whether they are going to go with that fight within days…If the next fight is for the lightweight strap, they will take the featherweight belt off Conor. I think that’s a given. I guess, the little bit of consolation Conor will take from that is that it will be two guys he has beaten fighting for the vacant featherweight title…It will probably be (Max) Holloway and (Jose) Aldo. He beat one in 13 seconds and one on one leg. It’s hard to say that on paper he isn’t the champion when he’s beaten the two guys who are fighting for his belt. He’ll probably do the same to the lightweight division.
‘I used to struggle to sell McGregor tickets’
At the BAMMA 26 press conference in Dublin, Kavanagh says that he used to struggle to sell ticket for McGregor fights.
You know sometimes I laugh because I used to run small amateur shows, well they were pro fights back then but they really were amateur shows, and I remember I had a show with Gunnar Nelson, Conor McGregor, Aisling Daly and Paddy Holohan and it was a tenner for a ticket and I struggled selling them. I’d probably sell them out now pretty handy, but what I’d say to fans now is [BAMMA 26] is your chance to look at future stars [in Irish MMA]. For me BAMMA is more or less the top show in Europe, and you don’t have to be bowing down to the UFC, because as far as I’m concerned, these fighters have skill levels that are as good as anyone, regardless if they fight in the UFC or BAMMA.
Aldo: McGregor ‘a normal, quiet guy’
Aldo says that, during the promo tour for UFC 189, he got to see a different side of McGregor, contradicting his many complaints about McGregor’s conduct in the past.
[The relationship] is friendly, quiet. For me, I see no problem with him doing his marketing, and seeing the financial side, it was very good. If I had more fights with him in the featherweight division, it would be very profitable, but I am not his friend, he can go one way and I go to the other. I’ve seen him stand facing the wall, staring at nothing and everyone trying to provoke him, and he has a glazed look. He’s a normal, quiet guy, but if you see a camera or an Irish person close, he turns. Outside you see him laughing, joking, talking usual — but then he turns in such a way that you think: ‘son of a bitch’…Sometimes you play jokes and he is laughing. There was one day we sat and he said to get coffee, and I said I wanted sugar, and he answered like: ‘good’. I met him recently at a hotel, he was eating breakfast and I said I wanted barbecue, he said it was his breakfast, of course. But most of the time we met, there was always someone [with a camera] shooting, so he had to keep it up. But with no camera, the face changes completely.
‘I’m gonna blow up Call of Duty’
McGregor is interviewed about Call of Duty.
We’re gonna break the record this year with Call of Duty…Of course I’m a fan..I’m in the new game!
McGregor is ‘a lie’
Alvarez says that he believes that McGregor would represent a break in the quality of his opponents.
In a sparring room, there is always a guy that we call ‘the rest round. [McGregor] is the rest round. He is the guy you grab when you are super tired and you say ‘Come on man, lets do a round’. To me, to the level of guys that I compete with, to the the level of guys that I’ve fought in my life, and the level of guys I train with every day. He comes to our gym and trains – he is the rest round. For everyone, not just me. For Frankie[Edgar], for Edson[Barboza], for Marlon[Moraes], for any one of us…I was impressed by the first seven minutes. Then it all looked really sloppy and didn’t look of championship calibre. It didn’t look like a guy who spent $300,000 on a training camp. I could have done that shit for like $5.
Past the eight minute mark, I don’t see anything but than being dominant. He can do well because it’s easy to be technical in the first round or two, but when the shit hits the fan and it turns into a fight – I will f-cking dominate this guy every step of the way. When he is a little bit tired and he has to dig down – it’s over. It’s all over…There is no Santa Clause – he don’t exist. It was a lie and I’m going to steal the magic from everyone. The magic is going to be gone. And I can’t wait. It’s going to be a great time for me.
Diaz coach: UFC 202 scoring rigged for trilogy
Diaz’s boxing coach says he scored the last three rounds to Diaz, and accuses the judges of prioritising a third money-spinning fight over objective judging.
If Nate wasn’t injured, McGregor would’ve got stopped. If it went another 30 seconds, Nate would’ve tapped him out because Conor was ready to go anyway. [Nate] was in good shape before the second fight, but the knee set him back along with the rib. He couldn’t train for the last three weeks. Nate couldn’t back out because he’d be sidelined and they’d have gave someone else the chance like they did with Dos Anjos…You can’t win a round by running. He was just looking at the clock. I knew that they were going to give that second round to McGregor, and the fight itself because I figure they wanted a third fight. A company just bought it out – they want to make more money. A lot of people know that he didn’t win that fight.
‘A lot of feelings were hurt’ by McGregor’s insults
On a UFC 203 media conference call CM Punk says that, while he doesn’t care what McGregor said, it hurt other WWE wrestler’s feelings.
A lot of feelings were hurt, though, I can tell you that much, which I thought was a little strange. You’ve gotta leave the emotion out of it. These guys still don’t know…It’s a hard thing to comment on, because the amount of people who responded to him made me feel like they were told to respond to him. [McGregor is] the biggest name in sports at the moment. There’s always grey areas when you involve that whole scene and you’re wondering, is this a work, is this not a work?
Talks about helping McGregor train
Wallace talks about training with McGregor, taking the place of Nate Diaz in sparring sessions.
I couldn’t believe it when I heard at the time. I thought he [Conor McGregor] was joking, then I rang Mick [Michael Conlan] straight away and asked him if he was winding me up. But when I found out it wasn’t a joke I replied back to tell him I’d be delighted to go…We mainly did two sessions a day, it was well structured and I was mainly used on the boxing days…I’m a lot sharper than Diaz, it’s plain to be seen. He’s slow and sluggish but it’s his fitness and toughness that wins him a lot of his fights. But I watched a lot of his footage, his big long one-two and a kind of slap hook catching as the opponent comes in. I tried to mimic him the best I could to help McGregor deal with it…[Conor] couldn’t thank us enough for the work that we had done. Because when people were watching the fight, it was more like a boxing match rather than MMA.
Accurate fight simulations key to win
Kavanagh says McGregor’s UFC 202 training not only used training partners capable of mimicking Diaz inside the cage on MMA sparring day, they also attempted to mimic fight day conditions in every other possible way.
We made sure that we did a lot of very accurate fight simulations. On our MMA sparring day, we really treated it the exact same as fight day. What he was going to eat on fight day, how he was going to rest – we mimicked it perfectly. We left the house at the same time he was going to leave the house for fight day. One of the guys that we brought in as a sparring partner, they didn’t hang out together, they didn’t become friends, they didn’t chat to each other. And when they would go into the gym, they would get changed in a different room and they wouldn’t talk to each other until they were actually sparring. And then, as sort of a stroke of luck, this particular guy we got, he actually liked to do some shit-talking.
Bisping: Alvarez would kill McGregor
Bisping says that McGregor cannot beat Alvarez at 155 pounds, disagreeing with John Kavanagh, who has said McGregor would beat Alvarez inside two rounds.
I think looking at that last fight, he does not want to fight Eddie Alvarez at 155. I think Alvarez kills him man. He’ll just take him down and destroy him. I’m not saying that to be mean, I just think stylistically…I like Conor. Conor is incredible, he’s done amazing things for this sport. He’s brought so many eyes on to it, he’s making so much money and he’s exciting as hell. He brings excitement.
McGregor ‘can be in peak form by UFC 205’
Dalby talks about McGregor’s training and recovery.
The basic problem with Conor is that he is a man obsessed. If he is left to his own devices, he will self-destruct. He will train himself into oblivion. And that’s what he had been doing in the past. He had been over-training to the point that he would make himself ill and then he would take time off…The end justifies it all. The fact is, he went a hard, hard five rounds and he won at the end of the five rounds…The man is capable of going a hard 29 minutes. His fitness level is exceptional now. You can see how quickly he can recover in the one minute between rounds, he comes back up fresh again [at the beginning of each new round]…He can be in peak form for November. There are a lot of variables there. I mean it’s up to what Dana White wants him to do, it’s up to whether any of the other contenders want the fight. But from a medical standpoint, there is absolutely no reason why he can’t fight in November. It’s more down to the logistics of it, from the UFC and the other fighters, nothing to do with his health or conditioning…I would like to see him fight [Jose] Aldo. There is some unfinished business that’s going on there.
Open to McGregor boxing match
Alvarez says he is open to meeting McGregor is the boxing ring, and criticises his comments about boxers.
I’ve been fighting the best since I was 23, since a very young age, that’s the last thing he could ever speak about me or say about me, but I understand, there’s people out there that like to talk nonsense and stupidity. If he wants to try out boxing, then anytime he wants. If he wants to come over to this side of the world and try boxing, anytime he wants, to see that it’s not as easy as he thinks,
British GP ‘uncertain’
Rossi talks about the upcoming British GP at Silverstone,
I have very nice recent memories of Silverstone. Last year I won a really incredible race in very difficult conditions. I hope that this year there will be nice weather, but from the climatic point of view the English race is very uncertain. I like Silverstone a lot, it’s a very fun track but also very demanding. This circuit is very long and there are many changes of direction with high speeds. It is important to find a perfect set-up for the bike to be able to suit both the slow and the fast corners. We will try to work on all aspects, as we have been doing the entire season to get the best possible result.
Diaz: Immediate McGregor rematch unlikely
Speaking to Sonnen on his podcast, Diaz says he doesn’t expect an immediate rematch.
I don’t know [what’s going on behind the scenes]. Remember last time they rushed to his house the next morning and said he was all obsessed or whatever? I was pretty crazy about it for a couple of days, but it’s whatever to me, you know? I won that fight and I’m not like jumping for joy already for round three. I think I beat him twice, so it’s 2-0 as far as I’m concerned. If they want to do it down the road, I don’t know – I’m not in a hurry. I believe they know too, because he’s got a smart coach on his hands. Him and his coach know what happened in the fight and they’re not stupid, so I think they are going to do what they can to return to his division and get onto a new stage.
Henry disses Kavanagh
In reply to a screenshot of an article where Kavanagh said he’d prefer for McGregor to go to 155lb and fight Alvarez for the lightweight championship, and in addition predicted a second round knockout, Henry says:
John Kavanagh, for a jiu-jitsu coach who can’t event teach his student Conor McGregor how to tie his belt and just got subbed quick you have a lot to say. PS give the proceeds of your book to the striking coach, he deserves it.
Kavanagh responds:
it won't. I'll focus on my fighter. I'm not a fighter and I'm not interested in headlines, I'm just a coach doing my best.
— Coach JK (@John_Kavanagh) August 30, 2016
Wants to buy $2m watch
McGregor says he wants to buy a $2 million Richard Milles watch to add to his collection. Mille’s RM 056 costs $1.65 million, while the RM 56-02 Tourbillon Sapphire is $2 million.
I have a nice collection now. I have some Audemars. I have some Hublots. I have some Rolexes. I’ve been looking at Richard Milles. They’re a big purchase, the Richard Milles, so I’m not going to jump into it. I have the 50-year anniversary Rolex with the green face. It’s a beautiful piece. I was looking around to see if Lorenzo (UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta) has the same watch as me; I think he was copying me. Every time I see him, he has a new watch. I took a picture of the money-green Rolex and he said, ‘That’s my new favourite.’ And then at UFC 200 he shows up, ‘Hey look,’ and he had the same watch as me…Watches have always been something that just appeal to me. There’s something about having a really nice, quality watch on your wrist. Especially on my left wrist. When I feel the weight of it, I feel like… it takes you back to the caveman days, when you’d kill an animal and you would take something and put it around your neck as a symbol of what we have done. ‘We have conquered this.’ When I have won a big fight and collect a big check, I’ll purchase a beautiful watch and I’ll put it on my left hand. My left hand that I have cracked on my opponent. That hand has got me my fill. It feels like I’ve earned it.
Skiddle interview
The band are interviewed by Skiddle, where they describe 2016 as “mind-blowing”.
We supported James in May on ‘The girl at the end of the world’ tour and played venues up and down the country including Kentish Town Forum, Brixton Academy and Manchester Arena. We were blown away with the support we got from James and their fans. Jim and Saul from the band would watch our set pretty much every night. We had to do an acoustic set for one of the gigs as David our drummer was unavailable. I think Saul could sense we were a bit nervous and surprised us by joining us on stage to play violin on a track of ours called Forever In Your Debt…Manchester will always be the centre of our universe, it always feels great to play Manchester especially recently our show at Gorilla at the end of last year was unreal. We were all really proud of getting that far so the Ritz should be another level again…We are writing in the run up to the Ritz so should have a new track or two, we will also be writing more in the new year. I guess we will tour again once we have a bulk of new stuff.
Schaub: McGregor should fight Mayweather next
Schaub says that McGregor should fight Mayweather next.
I don’t know if he’s favourite in any of those fights beside the Aldo one. I’ll tell you what to do and what he’s gonna do; you fight Floyd Mayweather for $30m, and you keep the UFC on ice because you’re the biggest star. From what I hear from inside sources – the only reason they didn’t fight before. . .they had a venue, the teams agreed to it, it was a money issue between them. I think it’s a huge opportunity for the UFC because you’re never gonna have another Conor McGregor.
Rogan: McGregor should fight Nick Diaz
Rogan says McGregor should fight Nick Diaz next
[Welterweight’s] where the money is. It would be amazing. Nick’s on a totally different level [of smack talking]. Nate’s a great fighter and a really tough guy, but even he said after the fight: ‘Shoutout to my brother – the best fighter in the world’. It would be a different experience in there. I want to see that more than anything in life. More than the Aurora Borealis, more than I want to go to Keck Observatory in Hawaii and see the Milky Way.
Overeem: McGregor, Mayweather lying about pay
Overeem says both Mayweather and McGregor say they’re making as much as they say they are.
My answer to that, to Mayweather and to Conor, let me see some bank statements. You can talk, you can say it, you can put it out there in tweets, but let me see a bank statement that says UFC wired X amount of money, because it’s always going to be this way. People lie. It’s the 21st century. Social media is fake…I’m from Holland. In Holland, we like to dress up, we like to do our thing, we like to be cool. But we what we don’t like is to have stacks of cash on the table and the cars. To us, in our culture — and in that respect I’m very proud to be Dutch — that’s just attracting problems, attracting difficulty…I’ve always kind of followed my own path. I do what I think is right. That brings me happiness. If I’m going to do something because somebody else is doing it, I see that as fake. Again, you look at these other guys and they’re making the stacks of cash. Who was the first doing that? Muhammad Ali was doing that. So you’re copycatting another guy.