Responds to McGregor
Sheamus tweets in response to McGregor’s statements about WWE.
Never show a Jack Russell a mirror. It thinks it's a majestic Irish Wolfhound. Really, just an annoying wee yapper trying to sell tickets.
— Sheamus (@WWESheamus) August 7, 2016
Responds to McGregror
Banks tweets in response to McGregor’s statements about WWE.
Bring it https://t.co/e9guQ9bi0f
— Mercedes Moné Varnado (@MercedesVarnado) August 7, 2016
Henry: McGregor should give up belt
Henry, Edgar’s coach, says McGregor who give up his featherweight belt.
You know Conor was holding up the belt, he had the belt you know. I think it’s baloney how he fought Nate in his second fight which he got knocked up on, striking and on the ground. Why a rematch for a guy holding the belt? Just give the belt up. We wanted the belt at the time, we could care less about Conor and what he thinks he is or the UFC and what they think of him. The only thing was that he held the belt, everything else, I could care less about that guy.
Clarifies WWE comments
McGregor clarifies his comments about WWE wrestlers.
I didn't mean no disrespect to the @wwe fans. What I meant to say was that I'd slap the head off your entire roster. And twice on Sunday's.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) August 7, 2016
Kavanagh: McGregor looking for dominance
In an interview on Fox Sports, Coach Kavanagh says McGregor is looking to make a statement.
I really feel it has to be a very dominant performance to make the type of statement that Conor wants to make. For me, round 1 was quite one sided. I’m pretty sure anybody would have scored that round for Conor. That’s the way I see it going this time. Even more in Conor’s favor, because there was some exchanges in that first round that he was still figuring out which way Nate moves. Whereas now it’s been a fairly obsessive couple of months where we feel we have a very strong game plan to counter everything he does. I expect it to be one sided, but how long as it lasts, it’s difficult to predict. But as long as it does last, I expect it to be one sided.
Says new tyres and ECU impact small
Rossi says the impact of MotoGP’s new-for-2016 tyres and control electronics on bike set-up has been smaller than he anticipated.
We tested three or four times with the Michelin tyres last year and this gave us a lot of worries because we were slow, we crashed, we didn’t have feeling with the front. Yamaha worked to develop a [new] bike that is quite different compared to the year before with the Bridgestone, with the different weight distribution and the [fuel] tank on the rear. But the Michelin tyres improved a lot, especially the front and at the end, essentially we are using a very similar set-up compared to Bridgestone, and this is good. With the electronics, we expected a big revolution, a big step back, but at the end it was a half-step back. The bike that I am using now is very similar to last year.
Says WWE fighters are ‘pussies’
In the conference call with Nate Diaz, McGregor is asked if he would consider cross-promotion between UFC and WWE
For the most part, those WWE guys are pussies. They’re messed up pussies, if you ask me. Fair play to Brock [Lesnar], he got in and fought but, at the end of the day, he’s juiced up to the f—— eyeballs. How can I respect that? The other guy [CM Punk] hasn’t fought yet, so I don’t know about him yet…I mean, there are some dons in that wrestling game. The McMahon’s? They’re dons. Triple H is a don, The Rock is a don, but the rest of them are f—— pussies. I happen to enjoy it, but that’s a little more show business. This is the fight business.
Diaz, McGregor conference call
In a conference call for UFC 202, McGregor says he will beat Diaz in the second round.
I know I said I was going to stop the guy in the first round (at UFC 196) but if I really look at it I thought he has a solid chin, he’s durable, he’s very experienced. He has the size and the weight on me and I think that was the wrong thing to go in expecting the first round (finish). And I did go out to KO him in the first round, nobody can say that (I didn’t). I marched forward and backed him up against the fence and teed off on his head. I did what I said I would do. But respect to him. He stuck it out and he was durable, he was experienced. He weathered the storm. I’m still going to march forward, I’m still going to press him, I’m still going to bust him. There’s just going to be a lot more in my tank. I’m going to be a lot more prepared for a man that can stay in there with me. But even still, I struggle to give him past round three. If I was to make a prediction which I will right now, I believe I will repay the favour and KO him inside the second round.
NUJ: Highfield ‘living in cloud cuckoo land’
The NUJ calls out Highfield over staffing levels, working practices, use of freelance cover, recruitment policy and the state of the industry. NUJ Organiser:
Sadly Ashley Highfield is living in cloud cuckoo land if he thinks the acquisition of the i is transformational. Taking on extra debt and flogging off other assets will not result in salvation for Johnston Press. Our members see the actual reality in the company’s newsrooms day in and day out. Content sharing between the i and other titles is a way of trying to mask low staffing levels in Johnston Press sites with all the consequent problems for quality journalism and stressed-out staff. The company now appears to actually be factoring in periods of ‘disruption’ during its transformational projects – such as the salesforce changes. Unfortunately, as those who have gone through the transformational ‘Newsroom of the Future’ editorial programme will testify, things are certainly no better on the other side. There must be questions in the minds of the board and shareholders about whether this is the right strategy for the company, though Ashley Highfield seems intent on pressing on despite all the warning lights flashing on the dashboard.
Diaz: ‘I’m really taking over’ if I beat McGregor
In an interview with Olivi, Diaz says the fast rematch with McGregor is the UFC’s way of erasing the results of the first fight so that the biggest moneymaker in the sport can regain the spotlight..
When it first got booked, I was like, ‘Man, they want to get me right back in there again and try to win this back and weed me out again…Can I sit back for eight months and soak up some popularity and exposure and go on vacation and do what I gotta do? They were like, ‘We want this,’ and I was like why so quick? But I was like, whatever, and then the deals got done.” [To win] I’m going to prepare, that’s about it. We’re going to see. The same thing I always say: My objective is to win, I’m going to train hard and try to get it done. I believe I’m the superior martial artist and I’m just going to go in there and get the job done. My plan is to win and do good, work hard and win the fight.
‘I helped train a guy to kill someone’
McGregor appears on the cover of Men’s Health magazine. In the interview he talks about how Carvalho’s death affected him.
How do I feel? How would you feel? It’s f**ked up. I wasn’t just watching that fight. I helped train a guy to kill someone, and then someone wound up dying. This is a f**king dangerous game. People call it a sport, but it’s fighting. I’m just making sure it ain’t me. And that’s f**ked up. Damn. I still can’t believe that kid is dead.
Gracie: McGregor would easily beat Khan in MMA
Gracie says McGregor would easily beat Khan in MMA, but would be beating in a boxing ring.
If it was a boxing match I’d put my money on Amir Khan. But a MMA match, it’s a totally different ball game. Because McGregor’s been training for a long time already, so he’s smart, he’s very good. He’s top right now. Amir Khan right now wouldn’t stand a chance against him, sorry. Not in a MMA match. But, having said that, anything can happen, there’s only one way to find out. There is a big difference, if you put the best MMA fighter in the boxing ring to fight a top boxer boxing rules it’s a totally different ball game. Or a karate fighter to fight tae kwon do rules or fight boxing rules. A boxer to fight tae kwon do rules, it’s totally different, man.
Kavanagh ‘always knew’ McGregor would world champion
Kavanagh says he knew McGregor was special, after seeing him train at SBG Ireland’s gym as an 18-year-old novice to mixed martial arts.
It was very obvious from early on that Conor had this unusual set of skills contained in the one person. It’s tempting to talk about Muhammad Ali when you talk about Conor just from the showman side of things. There is a certain set skills, as Liam Neeson might say, that are required to become the no.1 in this world. And certainly being very good at the sport is a huge part of it. But to have the x-factor, to be able to have charisma, to be able to speak on the mic and be able to deal with the heavy media attention, that’s something that I don’t think you can be taught. That’s something that’s in somebody or it’s not. I’ve seen it before with guys who are incredible in the gym but the can’t do it on fight night or they can’t handle the pressures of dealing with a bunch of interviews and so on and so forth.
Pleads for help from Obama
Keys sends a five-page letter (source) to President Obama, asking him to intercede in his case, arguing that federal statute is being misapplied and that a sentence of two years in prison over such an event is excessive.
Although I do not understand the nuances of law, I am aware that at this point only presidential intervention in the form of a commutation of sentence or a presidential pardon can prevent the execution of this draconian sentence. Therefore, I respectfully request your assistance in advocating on my behalf for President Obama to review my case and consider using any and all executive powers afforded to him in preventing my scheduled incarceration and any other provision of the sentence for his he feels is unjustified and unwarranted. Doing so would not only reverse what many consider to be an unwarranted sentence triggered by an overzealous prosecutor based on a draconian and outdated law, it will allow me to continue serving the public as a journalist.
Alvarez: I’ll fight McGregor at Welterweight
At a press conference for UFC 201, Alvarez challenges McGregor,
I started my career at 170. Actually, I wouldn’t have to make the cut, so I’d actually appreciate that if he made it at 170. I don’t like going to 155; I do it because everyone else does. It just means we’ll have a better training camp, more power, and it will be a little more enjoyable. 100 percent, I’d fight McGregor at welterweight…What I’m seeing is not the right style matchups. He’s fighting the perfect style matchups. He’s not fighting the guys that will threaten him the way I can, the way a lot of these wrestlers can. If you look at his fights, he hasn’t been in a lot of bad positions, and there’s a reason for that. I’m not the style matchup that’s in his favor. I can put him in bad places, and I don’t think he’ll be able to adapt or overcome.
Diaz: The UFC created McGregor
Diaz tells Whitlock that McGregor’s fame is due to the UFC pushing his image.
Well that’s what the UFC did. They pushed his fan base and put all their energy and exposure on him. Like I said, I’ve been fighting a long time. They haven’t been (doing it for me) and they now can’t deny it. Look, they got me up here with you because I beat the guy.
Aldo reveals McGregor taunt
Aldo reveals what he told McGregor after he beat Frankie Edgar in UFC 200.
It was spontaneous. I knew he was there. When I was fighting, I saw him between rounds, I saw him there. So, when the fight was over, I only said ‘You’re next.’
Kavanagh: McGregor will win in four rounds
Kavanagh says that McGregor will score a fourth-round finish over Diaz in the Aug. 20 rematch.
[Conor’s preparation has been] 100 times more serious this time around. [He] got tired early by throwing too many power shots.
Aldo trainer questions McGregor doping
Aldo’s trainer, Pederneiras, says his offer to pay for tests to be performed three times a week on Aldo and McGregor was rejected.
Conor went two months and two days without being tested before the fight with Aldo, and I was asking, asking, and asking but nothing was done. [Both fighters were tested four times, but only in the last two to three weeks, when McGregor was already in Los Angeles for the fight, while] Aldo was tested in the right way. I’m telling and challenging his trainer – test Conor seriously, I want to see if he makes weight. I can’t accuse anyone without having certainty. It would be frivolous to accuse someone without being certain. But, at the very least, it’s strange.
Aldo: McGregor MSG rematch ‘highly likely’
Aldo says that a win by McGregor in Las Vegas would prevent them from fighting each other at UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden, but that expects Diaz to win.
If he loses (to Diaz), it’s highly likely that they put us to fight on November 12, at Madison Square Garden. The Irish community is big over there. But if he wins, I think they will do a third fight between them and ruin all my plans…If I had to bet, it would be Nate [who wins] again. From what I saw he’s way bigger, stronger, and he’s training. He got that fight on short notice and still was able to win. Well trained, it’s really hard for McGregor. If you look at (Diaz’s) fights, even when he’s getting beat, he finds a way to come back. If I had to bet, it would be Nate…I’m rooting for [McGregor] to lose, of course. If he wins, they will do another rematch with Nate, and that’s bad. He has to lose. He has to lose. He will lose.