Not receiving death threats
Attar, McGregor’s manager, says reports of McGregor receiving death threats are untrue.
Yes we have security, no not due to death threats. Security is in everyone’s best interest and for everyone’s safety.
Says Honda acceleration worse than Suzuki
Marquez says that his RC213V Honda has slipped behind Suzuki as the worst accelerating MotoGP bike, bearing Aprilia.
The problem is, under acceleration, we are losing a lot. If we improve the acceleration, we will have one of the best bikes. It’s hard – on the straights the time is free, and it’s difficult for your mentality when you can’t follow people on the straight. We will have this for the next two races minimum. We know where we need to improve, but on the other hand it’s difficult in the middle of the season because the engines are closed [sealed]. If we made a ranking of acceleration, it would be: Ducati, Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda.
Nelson: Mcgregor can ‘walk through’ Diaz
Nelson says McGregor can learn from his losing bout with Diaz.
I think there were some technical mistakes in that fight that cost him the fight basically. I mean if you watch the first round and the beginning of the second, he was winning the fight, obviously, he was picking Diaz apart really. But there were a lot of shots that were kind of missing. He threw a lot more shots than he had to and I think maybe he rushed it a bit…I think if he takes his time and breaks him down, does what he does best, uses his speed a little bit better and maybe not concentrate on power as much, I think he will walk through Diaz.
Rogan: ‘Very possible’ Mayweather-McGregor could go distance
Rogan talks about Mayweather-McGregor possibilities:
I don’t think [McGregor can fight Mayweather]. I would imagine, unless the UFC is involved, [or they let him out of his contract] and I can’t imagine they would be willing to do that. If enough money gets thrown the UFC’s direction, the UFC might look at it this way, here’s a pragmatic way to look at it: ‘We can still make a lot of money with Conor McGregor’…You’re talking about a three million PPV buy or something crazy. So you do that, you move that up, you take that chance, and he gets boxed up by Mayweather and maybe he survives. If he survives and loses a f-king decision and he goes back and he says ‘All respect to Mayweather. Back to MMA. I just didn’t understand his hands. It’s a learning experience.’ and he has this great press conference. If he can survive, he’s not diminished too much. And Mayweather’s not a murderous puncher…it’s very possible [McGregor] is gonna get to the decision.
If McGregor and Mayweather fight in MMA, McGregor will f-k him up. He will f-k him up…But, in a boxing match, I can’t imagine a world where Mayweather doesn’t f-k [McGregor] up. In a boxing match I think Mayweather is arguably the greatest boxer of all time…He’s just so much better. And if people don’t know, if you think you’re really good and then you get in there and box a guy like that, he will f-cking expose the shit out of you. But, who knows man? One of the things we know about Conor is he has a ridiculous belief in himself and he has unbelievable power. One of the things we know about Floyd is he’s 39. So when a guy turns 39, you never know.
Mayweather: fighting McGregor ‘possible’
In Las Vegas for the Canelo Alvarez-Amir Khan fight, Mayweather responds to rumours that he and McGregor are working on the richest fight in boxing history, with McGregor getting about $10 million to Mayweather’s $144 million take. Mayweather:
It’s possible. It was a name that was shot at me. The rumors that you all have been hearing are the rumors that I started. It may not be a rumor, so keep your fingers crossed. It may be a boxer versus an MMA fighter….You already know my number. . . . Every time I go out there and compete at the highest level my number is, of course, $100 million or better. I feel that I can demand that because I’ve broken all records in the sport of boxing.
Posts Floyd-McGregor poster
McGregor post a poster of him squaring off against Mayweather.
https://www.facebook.com/thenotoriousmma/photos/a.495799027155068.1073741828.494191297315841/1270704919664471/
Says winglets hurting overtaking
When asked about the lack of late-race overtaking this year, Marquez says winglets could be a factor, along with the new Michelin tyres.
It’s difficult to say, it’s many things. We are trying to understand the tyres, it’s difficult to manage all the [race] pace because you don’t know when they will drop [laptime]. And, another thing, the wings didn’t help for the show, for the overtakes. This also can be a good reason, now it’s starting to be kind of Formula 1. When you take the slipstream you don’t have the downforce, then you have more wheelie, so it’s more difficult to overtake.
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
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/