Lays out McGregor’s Post-UFC 205 options
In an interview with McMahon, Kavanagh outlines the different options open to McGregor after UFC 205.
To be honest, things change so rapidly, we are not too sure what the next step is going to be. Right now we are just going to focus on this contest. Let’s get this positive result. [However,] there are so many options for Conor right now. The [Floyd] Mayweather fight is still kind of hanging in there. [Conor] is the [145-pound] champion. In a couple of weeks he will be the [155-pound] champion. The Nate [Diaz] trilogy is there. Maybe going back to [145lbs]. So, a lot of things are up in the air. I’m sure Conor will have an interesting announcement to make after the fight. So, stay tuned.
On the possibility of Mayweather-McGregor fight:
There is only one way that Floyd would step in and that would be pure boxing. Absolutely, that’s the only way.
https://www.facebook.com/PunditArena/videos/10155048283259796/
‘Fighting McGregor is not my goal’
Dos Anjos says he is concentrating on his upcoming bout with Tony Ferguson, and will fight whoever is up next.
I think a win on Saturday will deserve a title shot. That’s my plan. One step at time and my focus is on Saturday, but I think a victory over Tony will give me a title shot. I’ll then watch who wins the title fight, and hopefully then I will get the winner…Fighting Conor is not my goal. My goal is to get my belt back. If Conor has the belt and he decides to fight and defend the belt later, I want to be the guy. Conor or Alvarez–whoever wins. Fighting Conor is not my goal. Everything I do in my life, I want to be the best…I really think Conor has a big chance to win the title,” said ‘RDA’. “I think he has a big chance to beat Eddie Alvarez. I think he will get that…If Conor wins and decides to hide himself behind the belt and sit on it and lock up the whole division, then I will be agitated.
Denies taking-a-break rumours
In an Instagram post McGregor denies he will be taking a break.
I break jaws and I break records and I don’t take breaks
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMan5HLBC_Q/
White: Rousey ‘winding down’
White says Rousey has informed him of her retirement intentions as she plans to commit full time to acting.
I don’t wanna take the wind out of her sails. Let her say her own stuff but obviously I know what’s going on with her. But ya, it’s winding down for Ronda. Listen, Ronda Rousey’s made a lot of money. She accomplished what she set out to do… And she loves acting, she’s good at it and, if she dedicates herself she’ll be even better at it.
McGregor will give ‘positive news’ after UFC 205
Coach Kavanagh says McGregor will give ‘positive news’ after UFC 205.
I’ve heard him say a few different things and they’re all positive. Whatever way he goes with this, it’s only positive. Conor has such a hyperactive mind and a hyperactive body, you’d never know what’s going to happen with him. But for sure it’s a positive announcement. I know people are going to enjoy what he has to say.
‘McGregor is one of the best guys I’ve worked with’
Lockhart, McGregor’s nutritionist, says that McGregor always follwo his nurtitional advice.
I learned a lot from working with Conor the first time. I gave him a list of foods to eat, and his coach was like, “It would be great if he could eat all of this, but we don’t see how that’s possible!” It was so late in the game, I told them to do what they wanted to do and I would work around that. A few hours later coach Kavanagh calls me back and says, ‘No, we made the decision, we’re going to follow you 100%.’ They did that, everything went great and we’ve had a great relationship ever since. Conor is seriously one of the best guys I’ve ever worked with. I love the guy to death, he’s just an amazing guy all-around. What’s crazy is a lot of times I will go out to a fighter’s camp and they’ll tell me they’re following the program, then I look in the refrigerator and the cabinets, and there’s literally nothing on the program in there. When I went out to Conor’s everything was there. I’ll ask Conor if he done something I asked, and he’ll look at me like ‘Yeah, you said to do it!’ It’s hard to get used to [someone being so disciplined]. One thing I love about him is every time it’s time for him to eat, he asks exactly what he should eat. Conor is very particular about his coaches, and this is why he does so well. He lets me do my job, which makes my job crazy easy. I love working with him.
Woodley: McGregor shouldn’t try for welterweight
Woodley says McGregor is too smart to take a fight with him at Welterweight, assuming they are both victorious at UFC 205.
Well first off I think Conor is a smart individual and he knows that fighting me is not going to be good for his health. I just do not really see him wanting that fight…Even if he loses to Eddie it is not all bad. With his two bouts with Diaz, he will have now fought three times in a row outside the division and he still holds the belt. So he is a smart business guy and so I do not think he is going to want to come up and fight a guy who is going to outsize him. Being 170 and fighting 170 is two different things. I walk around at 200. Giving up that 30-pounds…Plus he is not going to have a boxing advantage. He is definitely not going to have a wrestling advantage. He is definitely not going to have a strength advantage. And it would be a lopsided display of power. I just really do not think there is any advantage to him having that fight with me. I will not be discouraged by his antics or him talking crap..But if we both get through our fights with victories and he wants to fight me then by all means. Sign me up now. I would actually feel bad about beating Conor McGregor. Like man, I just beat a guy who is 145. Granted, I would make a truck load of money. But it is not a situation that I would walk around with my chest pumped out afterward.
White: McGregor tough to deal, but ‘he’s worth it’
White says that, despite McGregor being sometimes difficult to work with, he respects the fighter.
He’s a little tough to deal with, but he’s worth it. The thing is all the other antics and everything aside, Conor McGregor will step up and fight anybody, anywhere, any time. I’ve never been in a situation where somebody pulls out the week before a fight and he literally does not care who he fights. Never been in that situation.
Tyson gives McGregor financial advice
Kavanaugh says that Tyson recently passed some financial advice to McGregor:
If it depreciates, lease it. If it appreciates, buy it…Not that [Conor] listened – he bought 25 cars the next day!
Sonnen: McGregor has ‘historic opportunity’ to take two belts
In response to UFC fighters who have been saying McGregor has been receiving favorable treatment, Sonnen says the UFC has a historic opportunity:
We’ve got fighters in weight classes that have no standing in this matter … and they’re saying, ‘You should strip him. Got to strip him, got to move that division on.’ I can’t believe that people don’t understand this that are in the industry. There is a historic opportunity if Conor should beat Eddie Alvarez. The opportunity there is that he will be the first guy in history to hold two world championships simultaneously in the UFC. It has never happened before. So if you’re the UFC and you, through the power of the pen, take one of those belts away, you also lose the opportunity that so much media is running with to have the historic evening. If you wait to strip him or make a decision in that weight class after the fight, you preserve that opportunity. The UFC can’t come out and say that. They can’t come out and say, ‘Well, there’s actually a marketing opportunity for us.’ Then they lose it.
Says European absence no big advantage
Klopp plays down the advantages of Liverpool’s absence from Europe this season. The side is currently level on points with Manchester City and Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table and, along with fourth-placed Chelsea, will not have to play any Champions League or Europa League football this season.
I’m not sure but 80 percent to 90 percent [of the time] in Europe, the team that is champion is playing in the Champions League. Why is that? Ah, because they have quality! Right, because they play good football, they can rotate and rest whenever. It’s not too cool when you’re not successful but when you are successful, you take it to the next game, you have a possibility to rotate and all that stuff because you have a big squad — we cannot rotate that much. It’s different things. Sometimes it is an advantage [not having Europe] but why so often does a team win the league with all these intense games in midweek? Maybe you’ll find an answer for this.
Talks about sparring knockout rumour
Kavanagh talks about the rumour that McGregor was knocked out during sparring.
It just picked up steam very, very quickly and within minutes I’m getting my mother ringing me, saying: What the hell is after happening to Conor?
https://www.facebook.com/The42.ie/videos/1249840861745067/
Praises McGregor
Johnson says McGregor’s success has opened the door for a lot of his fellow fighters to step through.
Conor earns every penny that he gets; every cent, every dollar. I take nothing away from him – get it while you can. Our careers in this sport are pretty short. They can end in a split second. Some people deserve it because they sell the fight and do all the talking, and some people don’t. I think Conor has helped out everybody to get better paid. Hopefully everybody goes up, up on the ladder when it comes to pay. If they can shell out that much money [to him], then everybody deserves a raise.
Predicts win in nine minutes
Alvarez predicts a win over McGregor in under nine minutes.
I think we do it under the nine-minute mark. Big, big heavy shots, he goes down and then submission. I can see it ending much like the (Nate) Diaz fight where I land the heavy shot and then I finish with a submission. From what I’ve seen in the past and what he’s done in the past, (his heart) is very questionable and I’m not the only one who’s questioned it…I think he has quit in him and I think it takes a tad of adversity and him to get into a little bit of a fight to pull it out of him. On November 12, I’m going to pull it out of him and I’m going to show it to millions of people and the crowd. Everybody’s going to see it. We’re going to reveal the quit.
Cejudo: ‘McGregor is the best fighter in the world’
Cejudo says McGregor will beat Alvarez.
I like Eddie Alvarez a lot but if he stays on his feet with Conor, I think Conor is going to get him. Conor is a gamer, dude. I will never cross that dude out. I just won’t. His mindset is second to none. He’s special because of his mind and his belief in his ability. I don’t think there had been another athlete like Conor, where he is that confident. Maybe Ali, that’s one of the only [other] one that I can think of, where he’s able to count the round and [land] one-punch knockouts. He’s special, man. For Conor to be able to take the fight to five rounds [against Nate Diaz]… I give my respect to him. I may disagree with the way he flaunts himself and flaunts money and things like that but he’s an entertainer. He’s the best fighter in the world and he’s the best entertainer in the world as well. The more experienced guy is probably Alvarez but I’ve got Conor, man. I like Eddie a lot. He seems like a really good dude and a good fighter – I’ve watched a lot of his fights – but I’ve got a feeling he may get prideful. I hope he doesn’t.
Alvarez training with Bilharinho
Coach Henry tweets an image of Alvarez and Bilharinho, who is well known for having a fighting style similar to McGregor’s.
Awesome work with champ
It’s unclear at this time whether Bilharinho has been a regular part of Alvarez’s preparations for this fight or not. His participation may even have been limited to a single session.
AWESOME workout wit Champ @Ealvarezfight & @JonasSpeed!! @andersonfranca. TEAM @RenzoGracieBJJ @Almeidabjj LETS GO! pic.twitter.com/nI2BJUf4dU
— Mark Henry (@MarkCoachmark13) October 24, 2016
Talks McGregor strategy
Alvarez says he made the McGregor fight happen.
I’m the one who made the Conor McGregor fight happen. He never had any intention of fighting me. Every time I said his name I didn’t get any response, I didn’t get anything. This is a guy who responds and talks shit to everyone, but every time I talked to the media and tried to drum up a fight or anything like that there’d be no response. So it was obvious that he really didn’t want this fight. It was only when I won the belt that they decided to get a crack at the belt. When I joined the UFC I fought the best guys in the division back-to-back-to-back, that was my strategy. I told the media I was tired of getting asked about Conor McGregor, so I told them I could use an easier fight and that’s why it happened.
And says he can handle the Irishman’s technique:
To me, he’s just a left hand. He’s just a guy with a left hand. That’s how I see him. He does something that we call a ‘rock back’ well. Mayweather does it. A lot of Philly fighters do it. He (McGregor) lives and breathes off it. A lot of MMA guys don’t know about these boxing things that they do. This is a move that’s very easily taken away and we’re going to dominate every step of the way. Without giving away a gameplan or anything, everything’s taken away with the proper preparation.
Real Madrid wants McGregor bout
Real Madrid says that the club would be happy to host to a McGregor headlined card at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, in Madrid. The club says the event has to be hosted from May to July and that they would require a reasonable timeframe to plan in advance. The club hosted a Bruce Springsteen concert last year.
[We would be] glad if we could make a UFC event; our stadium can hold more than 80,000 fans.
Wants belt back
Dos Anjos says losing his belt taught him lessons both inside and outside of the cage.
I learned how people treat you when you have the belt and how they treat you when you don’t have it. From now on, I will keep the right people in my friendship circle.
On not being able to fight McGregor previously:
I wasn’t disappointed just because of the payday, I got disappointed because I didn’t fight due to injury. That was the first time this happen on my career. [I expect McGregor to beat Alvarez, but fighting McGregor] is not my goal, my goal is get my belt back. If he has the title and don’t want to hide it like he’s doing with the 145-pound title, I’ll be ready to take it back.
Compares McGregor to Austin, Ortiz
Cormier talks about McGregor, and compares him to Austin and Ortiz.
He is ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin from 2000. The guy that you’re supposed to kinda root against, but you want to root for. Everything that he does before would have gotten people to boo you. But it’s like they’ve taken to it. It’s something so different that what they’re used to seeing the people love it. I think it’s fine…Like I used to tell people when they used to ask about Tito Ortiz. I’m like you’re gonna pay to see the man fight because you want to see him either win, or you want to see him lose. He talks it and he backs it up. And Conor does the same thing. He’s working magic for the UFC.