White refutes McGregor-Floyd fight reports
White responds to a report in the UK’s Sun tabloid, which reported that McGregor and Mayweather only have to agree on the purse to fight in the summer.
McGregor-Mayweather? No. It’d be very hard to pull off. I’ve heard Floyd is on a worldwide vacation on Mayweather Air spending millions in every country he visits.
He also says McGregor cannot fight outside of UFC:
Never. We’re his promoter. We’d have to make the fight. [The report is] completely fiction, this is like bottom-feeder … stuff.
Happy with Pedrosa or Vinales as team-mate
Rossi says he would be happy with either Dani Pedrosa or Maverick Vinales as his Yamaha teammate.
I think that for the second rider, [Yamaha title sponsor] Movistar wants a Spanish rider and Vinales or Pedrosa are the most possible [options]. I don’t know the percentage, one more than the other, you have to speak with Yamaha. But for me, it’s the same. [They are] two very different riders; Pedrosa very, very strong, very fast, already demonstrated his great potential, but a little bit older. Vinales, a great talent, already demonstrated but in MotoGP not a lot of experience. But a lot younger, so it’s a little bit different. For me, essentially, it’s no difference. I have a great relationship with Pedrosa and with Vinales.
Nelson: McGregor needs time to train
Nelson talks about McGregor at a pre-fight conference:
I haven’t trained much with Conor since his last fight, but we did a week in Iceland. We always focus quite a bit on grappling, so I think his focus will be as it has been. Maybe focus on some specific things for his opponent, who is going to be again, bigger and longer. Some tactical strategies maybe for him specifically. Also, I think he needs some time to train. Like we’ve seen, he ‘retired’ that other day because he felt like he wasn’t getting the space to train. There was too many media obligations and things like that. If that’s how he feels, he definitely needs to get time to train on his own, and get some space.
Tate frustrated by McGregor’s promo stance
Tate says she is frustrated that she had to take over promotional responsibilities that McGregor was supposed to do..
Let me get this straight — I am a fan of Conor McGregor. I think he has an awesome fighting style and he markets himself so uniquely, you can’t discredit that. He does a phenomenal job, everyone loves to watch him fight and that’s myself included. But I think that Dana is 100-percent right in saying if you’re not going to show up to do your part of the job, then there’s going to be consequences. We had to pick up some pieces the day that we had to film the commercial, which Dana White told me they spent like $10 million marketing this card. The day that the commercial was supposed to be filmed, it was supposed to be that myself, Amanda (Nunes), Frankie Edgar and Jose Aldo had to film two segments for this commercial and the main event had to film two segments plus one more segment, which is the highlight of the commercial. Well because the main event didn’t show up, they literally begged me to come back and it’s like, ‘Can you please come back later today and film this third segment? I filmed the third one but it caused me to miss my practice and I had to switch everything around. If you were in my shoes and you had to miss your practice to pick up something that Conor didn’t give any notice on and he wasn’t going to be there and they’re asking you to fill in the blank when it was his job and his responsibility and his contract to do it, I mean yeah am I allowed to be a little bit frustrated? I think so.
Wants to beat Lorenzo
Rossi says he wants to beat Lorenzo at Le Mans.
In 2015 I think I ran a positive race. but I wasn’t able to beat Lorenzo. But I’ll try to do it this time. We’ll need to start the weekend as we did at Jerez. Right from Friday we were able to make a good step in order to be competitive. So we must also do our best at Le Mans.
Wary of Le Mans weather
Rossi says he will repeat the strong set-up found at Jerez, while reacting to the notoriously unpredictable weather.
Le Mans is a track where the YZR-M1 usually goes very well. The negative thing about Le Mans is the weather, it is always very uncertain. It can rain, it is often cold and so there are many factors that you must be careful of. Last year I had a good race but I was not able to beat Jorge, I’ll try again this year. First we will start the weekend in the same way as we did in Jerez. There we found a good set-up on Friday and this has helped us to be competitive in the race. We will do our best also in Le Mans.
Kavanagh: McGregor will fight again
Kavanagh says McGregor will definitely fight again.
Conor’s going to fight again. He’s going to fight at 201 or 202, or 203 – whatever the deal might be. We’ll see what’s next you know when that plays out. 200 is the fight that everybody has been looking forward to for a long time. It is what it is, the show is going to roll on and Conor will fight again.
Brown: McGregor can’t beat Diaz
Brown says McGregor cannot beat Diaz.
I thought Conor showed a lot of chinks in his armor when he lost to Nate Diaz. Not only in terms of his submissions, but the way that he gassed and kept his hands down and got punched, his defense, those are fundamental problems that when you have those fundamental problems, you are never going to beat a Diaz…You’re not going to beat a Diaz with your hands down walking forward throwing one big shot. You’re not going to beat a Diaz with one round of good cardio. You’re not going to beat a Diaz without solid submission defense. You add all those up, you’re going to lose to a Diaz every f-ing time cause that’s what those guys do…When you look at skill versus skill, there’s no reason not to believe Nate Diaz that beat him on 11 days notice isn’t going to beat him with a full training camp…The real fear is he comes back, loses to Diaz, has to go back down to 145 and defend his title. Now it’s a must win. You can’t have your biggest star losing three in a row.
https://soundcloud.com/greatmmadebate/matt-brown-talks-ufc-198-plus-conor-mcgregor-vs-the-ufc
Calls McGregor ‘whitebelt’
In response to McGregor’s twitter comments, Diaz tweets a single word:
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) May 2, 2016
Nelson: McGregor shouldn’t cut to 145 again
In an interview with The MMAHour, Nelson says the weight cut to 145 lbs is so difficult that he would prefer to see McGregor continue his career at lightweight, which he says is a more natural weight class.
With 145 lbs, I know he can go back down and defend his title, no problem. I just think he doesn’t want to do that cut again. It’s a nasty one and I agree with him. I understand that. I would like to see him go to the 155 lbs division before going all the way up to welterweight but he’ll do whatever he feels like.
On the retirement tweet:
I think it kind of happened because he wanted to really focus on his training for this fight and he felt like going over there and doing all this media stuff was going to take away from his training and I think that’s the reason why he kind of had enough of that. Like he says, he’s done dancing like a monkey and he wants to focus on training. And I understand that…When exactly, I’m not sure but maybe UFC 201 or UFC 202. I would definitely put my money on him coming back and I believe the money is there as well.
Responds to Twitter critic
McGregor responds to a Twitter critic who tells him, “Look at the size of Nate Diaz. McGregor needs to go back to 145.”
I love it! Adapt and overcome.
I am coming in light and lean for my rematch and I will school this boy to the bell. https://t.co/MjEwxokIYK— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) May 2, 2016
On the floor he was swept and controlled.
When the tank goes, no amount of skill can save you.
You will see. https://t.co/vJP4k4qzwX— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) May 2, 2016
Shows off Reebok FuryLites
McGregor uploads a photo of the limited edition Reebok Furylites to Instagram. The shoes are in green plaid with orange accents.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BE4IokDLziu/
Khan ‘fancies his chances’ against McGregor
Khan says he could make the switch from boxing to mixed martial arts in the future, and says that he thinks he can compete against McGregor.
I’ve always been a UFC fan and I like McGregor and the way he promotes it. If I was to fight the champion around 147 pounds I would fancy my chances. You never know what will happen in the future—I would never say ‘no’ to getting into MMA. I could do it under my own banner and what a way to do it. My speed would be perfect, it’s hit and move…Just look at when McGregor beat Jose Aldo. The guy leant forward, over extended and fell short, McGregor stepped back and threw the straight right. It was a proper boxing move. I would not let anyone get close to me, I would take a step back and keep it long. I also believe that us boxers punch harder than MMA fighters anyway.
Says he still wants to fight Diaz
In an Instagram post McGregor says he still wants to fight Diaz.
Nobody gives a f-ck about these other fights until this one is settled. Cut the bullshit. Run it back. #RealFight
https://www.instagram.com/p/BE3N7iTLzpX/
Referee: McGregor was guaranteed $10m
McCarthy says McGregor was guaranteed $10m for UFC 200.
I talked to Lorenzo Fertitta at UFC 197 standing in the back and we started talking. And he said, ‘I never thought that when I had a guy guaranteed $10 million I would have a problem.’ If you don’t think $10 million is a lot of money to make for a fight, you are crazy. That is life changing money. That hand in poker, he lost. That $10 million might not be $10 million the next time he fights because it’s not UFC 200.
Edgar’s coach: McGregor needs to ‘let go of the binkie’
Henry, Edgar’s coach, wants McGregor to step aside so Edgar can fight.
Everybody keeps stoking up Conor so much, but Frankie is also trying to go for his second belt, too, and this guy – the thing with my daughter growing up, she was a great kid, but she wanted the baba and the binkie and the blankie (and) she was scared. She just wouldn’t get rid of it and held on tight to that. And I think Conor needs to let go of that baba and the binkie and just let go of the 145-pound title…I want Frankie’s legacy, so the only thing Conor is doing is holding up everything. Now my big question is, so if Conor is not fighting this fight, is he fighting Diaz in November, and now this title is going to be held even longer? There’s never been a title held unless a guy was hurt and they had an interim…All the rules are changing, and I just want the belt. This guy just won’t let that baba go, man. You’ll be OK, pal. You want to go and fight 155? Go fight 155 and come back and fight 155, but (McGregor) wants to fight 170, he wants to retire, and he doesn’t want to retire. I don’t know if I’m talking to my wife or talking to Conor sometimes
Aldo: McGregor media no-show ‘proves how weak he is’
Also criticizes McGregor for not participating in UFC 200 media.
It proves how weak he is. I don’t see him as an athlete, I don’t respect him. In my opinion, he’s weaker than everything he always said.
Yamaha promises Lorenzo, Rossi equal treatment
Yamaha’s Jarvis says Lorenzo will receive the same treatment as Rossi, other than when it starts working on its 2017 MotoGP bike.
For the rest of the season, our mission is the same as his mission. There couldn’t be a better way to conclude this period of Jorge with us going out as champions. We will give our maximum amounts of equal support to Valentino and continue to provide him with development parts throughout the year. Of course if we get to a moment, for instance maybe like [testing after August’s race at] Brno, where we will bring the prototype of the 2017 bike, that’s a different story…It’s only when it gets to being truly something that we will not use this year, then obviously we will restrict the information on that.
Jarvis also says the relationship between Rossi and Lorenzo changed after the Sepang clash with Marquez.
Prior to Sepang, we’d had Jorge and Vale back together for three-and-a-half seasons. Honestly the relationship had been going very well. Of course, they always remained competitors of each other but the team co-existed and we interacted very well and very freely with each other. After Sepang that changed, this is an absolute fact.
Wants to end career as successful as Rossi
Hamilton says that he wants to end his career as successfully as Rossi:
Valentino is towards one of the older riders now, but he still has the ability to be at the top. He still has the ability to do so, and so I hope that I am in the similar position towards the end of my career.
On retirement:
I do. Generally when I think about it, I have this three-year contract. I am hoping that I have another three or four years after that. However, he is well aware of how hard it is to pick the right moment to walk away – and says that more success in the future would only likely encourage him to stay rather than provide the perfect opportunity to quit at the top. We all are greedy, we always want more. You know that you have just won the championship, you still feel healthy, you still feel fit. Plus you know that next year is going to be the same year, it is just going to be good.
McGregor offered $2m to fight Mirzaev
Russian media reports McGregor has received a $2m offer to fight Mirzaev in the undercard of Fedor Emelianenko’s heavyweight bout with Fabio Maldonado at Fight Nights Global on June 17.
McGregor received a formal offer from the promotion. @from_safonov confirmed the news with Mirzaev.
— Karim Zidan (@ZidanSports) April 27, 2016