Conor McGregor

What should happen with the UFC 256 main event?

by
UFC, Dana White

Yesterday, news broke that the welterweight title fight between Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns at UFC 256 was off. That title fight was set to be the main event for the promotions December PPV event scheduled for December 12th.

Amanda Nunes – Megan Anderson for the UFC‘s featherweight title remains on that card. However, I don’t think it’s likely that the UFC moves forward with Nunes – Anderson as the main event of that PPV. I think they have higher profile fights in mind.

ESPN reported yesterday that the UFC was considering a number of options. One option they were considering was Stipe Miocic – Francis Ngannou 2 for the heavyweight title. Another option the UFC was looking at was having Jorge Masvidal – Colby Covington headline that card.

Both of these fights are fantastic options. However, it appears that the UFC heavyweight title fight will not happen until 2021 as of now. Masvidal – Covington is a very real possibility as the UFC has been working hard to book that fight.

What should the UFC do?

While both of these options are great, I think there is a clear path for the promotion. That path would have UFC 256 headlined by the rematch between Conor McGregor (22-4) and Dustin Poirier (26-6, 1 NC). Both men have recently agreed to a charity MMA match.

That charity MMA match was set to be on 12/12 which is the same date as UFC 256. McGregor obviously suggested that date to stick it to the promotion after the recent public back and forth. Poirier agreed to the date for the charity match.

Conor McGregor belongs in the UFC. Despite everything, he’s still the cash cow for the promotion. The UFC is booming and they’ve proved they don’t need McGregor, but if you can get him back in the octagon, you need to do it.

Not only would this be a fun fight for fans, but it would be the right fight for the division. Both men are near the top of the lightweight division, and whoever wins would have a real claim to be the number one contender to whoever wins at UFC 254.

Poirier was originally supposed to fight Tony Ferguson. However, that fight fell apart due to financial negotiations. I don’t see financial reasons being what stops this fight from happening. For the hell of it, why not put Tony Ferguson – Michael Chandler on the same card at UFC 256? This is the path I would go down if I was the UFC.

BREAKING: Kamaru Usman – Gilbert Burns at UFC 256 is off (Reports)

by

Per ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, one of the more anticipated matchups of the winter is off. According to Helwani, the UFC 256 headliner between Kamaru Usman (17-1) and Gilbert Burns (19-3) is off. The word from Helwani is that the UFC champion needs a little more time.

Usman did get injured in his last fight against Jorge Masvidal that came at UFC 251. Usman was thought to be all cleared for this fight, but upon returning to training, it appears that the champion is going to need additional time to prepare for the event.

As of now, the UFC is still planning on this being the title fight. However, the fight is going to be pushed back to either the January or February card. This would line up even better with the proposed title eliminator between Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington.

Perhaps, the UFC could pivot to having Covington and Masvidal fight on the December card. Masvidal has come out and said in the past that he wanted to fight again before the year is over. Covington has also expressed interest in getting back in there.

UFC 256 without Usman – Burns

As things currently stand, UFC 256 still has a title fight. The GOAT, Amanda Nunes, is scheduled to defend her featherweight title against Megan Anderson. For now, that title fight will slot into the main event spot. However, that’s not guaranteed to stay there.

The UFC could look at potentially having the matchup between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier headline that card. McGregor initially asked Poirier to fight for charity on December 12th which is the same night as 256.

Dana White came out last week and said that the promotion was waiting to hear back from McGregor on the potential fight inside the UFC. It wouldn’t be a bad idea in my opinion for the promotion to do everything they can to either make Masvidal – Covington or McGregor – Poirier the UFC 256 headliner.

UFC: Dana White comments on Jones/Adesanya, McGregor/Poirier, and Khamzat Chimaev

by
UFC, Dana White

A lot has been happening in the world of the UFC over the last week. We’ve had Israel Adesanya and Jon Jones continuously going back and forth over social media. We’ve seen Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier agree to a charity MMA fight.

All of this has created a lot for the UFC and Dana White. Today, White was asked about a number of things in an interview with UFC Arabia. One of the first things White was asked about was the ongoing beef between Jon Jones (26-1, 1 NC) and Israel Adesanya (20-0).

White said, “Yeah that’s the fight to make. One hundred percent. I think a fight between those two is massive.” The current UFC middleweight champion is coming off of the performance of his career at UFC 253 last weekend.

Adesanya and Jones have long teased a fight between the two. However, Adesanya has always said he wanted to fight the UFC‘s pound for pound king in 2021. However, White seems to be interested in making it sooner.

Other UFC Fights in the Works

On another front is the situation between Conor McGregor (22-4) and Dustin Poirier (26-6, 1 NC). Over the past week, McGregor has said that he was planning on boxing Manny Pacquiao. Then he went on to challenge Poirier to a charity MMA match outside the UFC.

The UFC responded by offering the fight to both men. Poirier has accepted the fight, and the promotion is currently waiting to hear back from McGregor. They are expecting to hear back from McGregor by the end of the day. The fight would be a headliner in January.

Also, White was asked about Khamzat Chimaev (9-0). The budding UFC superstar is expected to headline a fight soon, but the date and opponent are unknown. White provided an update saying it shouldn’t be long before it’s announced.

“Hopefully we will have something to announce today. It is not Demian Maia. Main event in November,” White said. Chimaev has exploded over the last couple of months and the promotion had thought about pairing him with Maia, but that is no longer in the cards.

It appears that there will be a lot of news coming out soon involving some of the biggest names in the sport. Exciting times if you are a fan of the UFC.

If Khabib Nurmagomedov wins at UFC 254, something special is next

by

The UFC‘s undisputed lightweight king put the retirement rumors to bed at today’s media day. As Khabib Nurmagomedov (28-0) took questions he said that he didn’t believe that he would retire if he defeats Justin Gaethje (22-2) at UFC 254.

Nurmagomedov talked about his love for competition and his love for competing inside the UFC. The champ told reporters, “I love competition. I love competing with the best fighters in the world. That’s why I’m here. I’m not in the UFC to make money.”

There have been a lot of rumors talking about what would be next if Nurmagomedov remains unbeaten at UFC 254. There have been questions on if he would walk away or if he’d rematch Conor McGregor or perhaps a match with Georges St. Pierre. The lightweight champ said Dana White is working on something for him after the fight.

“We have a couple of options. We’re going to think about this after this fight. Dana told me, after this fight, he has something special for me. They said, ‘We have very big things after this fight for you,'” Nurmagomedov told reporters.

What are the UFC’s Plans?

It is unclear right now what the UFC has in store for Khabib if he’s able to defeat Gaethje later this month which will be no easy task. You could make the argument that Justin Gaethje is the hardest stylistic matchup for Khabib inside the UFC‘s lightweight division.

If Khabib wins on October 24th, I think that the GSP fight is definitely one of the options on the table. We’ve also heard about a potential coaching stint on the Ultimate Fighter with Conor McGregor. Although Dana White said that was off the table yesterday.

Khabib Nurmagomedov has become one of the biggest stars in the UFC. If he does only have a couple of fights left with the promotion, I expect the UFC to try to do some big things for him. While nothing is set in stone until after UFC 254, I would expect it to be something big.

UFC trying to make Conor McGregor – Dustin Poirier 2

by
Conor McGregor, UFC

It has been a crazy week in the world of the UFC specifically around superstar Conor McGregor (22-4). McGregor in the last week has announced plans to box Manny Pacquiao, showed screenshots with from a private conversation with Dana White, and he’s called out the UFC President publicly.

To top it off, McGregor then asked Dustin Poirier (26-6, 1 NC) to compete in a charity MMA match. This would supposedly take place in December and it would have nothing to do with the UFC. Poirier agreed to the match through Twitter.

However, both of these fighters are under contract with the UFC. They are not permitted to compete in any combat sports without the approval of Dana White and the UFC. That would make the odds of the charity match extremely low.

However, Dana White came out today and sounded very interested in making the fight happen. It wouldn’t be for charity, but it would be inside a UFC cage towards the end of the year. It would be a fight the fans would love to see.

Will the UFC make it happen?

“We offered both of them the fight. We offered a fight to Conor and Dustin. We’re waiting to hear back from them,” White told Barstool Sports. This would be the perfect fight for the UFC to make if you ask me.

McGregor needs to get back into the cage, and Poirier needs to get paid. Poirier wouldn’t get a bigger payday against anyone else. From a rankings perspective, the fight makes a ton of sense as well. Both of these guys are just a win away from a UFC title shot.

McGregor was very adamant that he wanted to compete multiple times this year. Of course, the UFC didn’t make that happen which is what caused McGregor’s retirement. Poirier was supposed to fight Tony Ferguson, but that fight fell apart due to financial negotiations.

Pairing the two of them should solve both problems. It would get McGregor back to the UFC and it would get Poirier paid. Of course, that would leave Tony Ferguson as the odd man out, but perhaps a fight could materialize with Michael Chandler. It’s a very fluid situation at the moment.

UFC: Why Conor McGregor’s charity fight is a big deal for the league

by
Conor McGregor, UFC

It’s debatable whether or not the UFC will allow Conor McGregor to fight Dustin Poirier in a charity match. Both of the fighters are under contract with the UFC, and the charity bout would take place under outside promotion.

The UFC might take some heat from fans for turning it down – after all, the fight would raise a lot of money for charity. But at the end of the day, that may be the likeliest scenario because the UFC has something to lose if they let it happen.

The reason why the fight matters

This fight is intriguing, but not just because of the two talents that would be involved. Sure, the fight itself would be exciting, but from a business perspective there’s more implications. A fight arranged by McGregor and his managers is a far cry from the usual MMA fight, which is organized by a promotion. Even if it is just a charity one-off, it’s a rare boxing style bout in a sport dominated by centralized organizations.

The UFC has competition from other promotions. Bellator, ONE Championship, and others offer fans alternative options to watch. We’ve even seen big name fighters move from the UFC to these organizations for whatever reason. But at the end of the day, they’re still organizations. They act as centralized leagues, with one body deciding who fights who and setting the rankings.

Boxing, on the other hand? It’s a lot more like the wild west. Certain organizations can try to push through certain matchups, but at the end of the day the individual fighters and their managers have a lot more power. That can be a good thing or a bad thing. We’ve still never seen some highly talked about boxing fights, like Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder. In an organization like the UFC, that fight likely would have been pushed through by the league itself.

But on the other hand, boxing is known for more of the profits ending up in the pockets of the fighters. A big boxing fight does more for its stars than a big UFC fight, and it’s been said that Conor McGregor’s fight with Mayweather was motivated by the larger cut of profits from boxing.

Pay disputes with the UFC have been in the news fairly often in 2020. McGregor organizing his own MMA fight, boxing promoter style, is interesting because it opens the door for others to do the same thing. For now, the idea is for a charity fight.

But in the future, the idea of fighters agreeing to MMA fights outside of an organization like the UFC could see other uses. And because of that, expect the league to approach this fight with caution – after all, the UFC would have the most to lose if these boxing style matchups became more regular.

UFC: Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor agree to charity MMA match

by
dustin poirier, ufc

Yesterday was the six year anniversary of UFC 178. That night, Conor McGregor (22-4) knocked out Dustin Poirier (26-6, 1 NC) in the first round of their highly anticipated lightweight matchup. The fight was the first real test for McGregor inside the UFC.

After that fight, McGregor went on to become the biggest star the UFC has ever had. Meanwhile Poirier reinvented himself at lightweight and climbed all the way to winning the interim UFC lightweight championship last year.

Both men have been linked to each other for some time as Poirier has wanted to get that fight back. However, the UFC never came close to booking the fight. Both men are in the same boat right now in that they are not happy with the promotion.

Conor McGregor has been in a public spat with Dana White, while Dustin Poirier has expressed frustrations after his fight with Tony Ferguson never materialized. This was due to financial requests from Poirier which Ferguson actually supported.

Tonight the latest saga involving Conor McGregor’s Twitter account took another turn. Poirier tweeted at McGregor to which McGregor followed up with a request for an MMA match for charity having nothing to do with the UFC. Poirier said that he was in.

Would the UFC allow this to happen?

The simple answer to the above question is no. McGregor and Poirier are both under contract with the UFC and I’m sure that the promotion wouldn’t allow the two fighters to compete against each other even if it was for charity.

However, there is an easy solution to all of this. How about just having McGregor and Poirier fight in the UFC? It’s a fight that makes perfect sense from a rankings perspective, and it would be a fight that would generate the payday that Poirier would want.

Not too mention the fact that it would put McGregor back in the UFC where he belongs. While people would tune in, nobody really wants to see McGregor box Manny Pacquiao. They want to see McGregor inside the UFC.

This Twitter exchange will likely be chalked up to good fun, but it’s actually a fight that makes sense. I know that Dana White is not either mans’ favorite person at the moment, so maybe Hunter Campbell can take this one. Or maybe we could see Lorenzo Fertitta back in the mix to make it happen.

UFC: Justin Gaethje responds to Conor McGregor, ‘You never wanted it!’

by

Over this past weekend, UFC superstar Conor McGregor has been in the news. He came out and claimed that he would be boxing Manny Pacquiao instead of competing inside the octagon for his next bout in combat sports.

This seemed to go along with the something fun the UFC had planned for McGregor in early 2021. In addition to that, there’s been some back and forth between Dana White and Conor McGregor. McGregor released private conversation photos between him and White.

White said that the UFC superstar broke man code. However, McGregor fired back telling the UFC president to stop lying and that he broke the code first. In those screenshots, McGregor seemingly asked for Justin Gaethje in July.

The current UFC interim champion was begging for a fight with McGregor back in January. However, McGregor took a fight against Donald Cerrone for UFC 246. This is not something Gaethje forgot, and he pointed it out on Twitter.

The fight the UFC couldn’t make happen

This is one of those fights that got away in 2020. Had COVID not hit, the promotion would have booked McGregor and Gaethje for a fight in July. That was all but confirmed in the screenshots between McGregor and White that McGregor released.

However, Khabib Nurmagomedov was unable to fight Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 due to traveling COVID restrictions. Gaethje stepped in and won the interim lightweight championship. This would setup his fight at UFC 254 with Nurmagomedov.

When the UFC came calling about the McGregor fight again, Gaethje said no as his tweet suggests. He was coming from the point that he’s earned his shot against Khabib, and he won’t entertain McGregor now that he finally wants to fight him.

Gaethje had been calling out the UFC superstar for some time. It’s a fight that I think a lot of fans would love to see, but the promotion couldn’t make it happen. I still think that McGregor will fight in the UFC in 2021.

Perhaps win or lose next month, the promotion could make the McGregor – Gaethje grudge match finally happen. These two men do not like each other, and it would make for an incredible fight in my opinion.

Conor McGregor to UFC President: ‘Stop lying!’

by
Conor McGregor, UFC

It has been a wild couple of days involving Conor McGregor and the UFC. First, the former champion releases screenshots of a conversation between him and Dana White proving that McGregor was eager to have a busy 2020 in the UFC.

Then McGregor said he would be boxing Manny Pacquiao next. Pacquiao’s camp confirmed the talks yesterday. However, Dana White was not really pleased with McGregor when it comes to the way he tweeted all of this out. White said McGregor broke, “Man Code,” at the UFC 253 post-fight press conference.

Well, early this morning, McGregor had a rebuttal for the UFC President. In his response, McGregor pointed out that White broke code first, and he said that White is in on the Pacquiao talks. White said last night that he didn’t know anything about the boxing match.

UFC vs McGregor

Right now, we are in a classic battle of he said-he said. McGregor is right in that White originally commented that McGregor didn’t want to fight months ago. However, White clarified his comments later saying he was referring to McGregor not wanting to be a replacement.

That statement was confirmed by the former UFC champion’s screenshots. White came out last week and said that the UFC was working on something fun for McGregor in early 2021 so I find it a little hard to believe that White said that he didn’t know anything about the potential boxing match.

Ariel Helwani of ESPN reported that the UFC was in on the talks to make that happen. I believe that White was more annoyed by the entire situation and threw the response out there to focus more on UFC 253 versus what’s happening with McGregor.

It has been a frustrating year for McGregor and the UFC. McGregor wanted to be active in 2020. A fight with Justin Gaethje made sense. However, when Gaethje beat Tony Ferguson for the interim UFC lightweight title, that fight went out the window.

The promotion was targeting McGregor – Gaethje for their event in July. That would have headlined the UFC‘s first trip to Fight Island. However, Gaethje is now fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 254 for the undisputed lightweight title.

I don’t think public spats over Twitter help anything. McGregor and the UFC have always had a good relationship, and I think that White and McGregor just need to talk it out. Although things look bleak at the moment, I still expect McGregor to fight in the UFC sometime next year.

Manny Pacquiao confirms boxing match against UFC’s Conor McGregor

by

Yesterday, the world received some interesting news. Former UFC champion Conor McGregor made the claim that he would be boxing Manny Pacquiao for his next combat sport venture. It took a lot of people by surprise.

McGregor posted that tweet along with a few others including screenshots with UFC President Dana White. McGregor showed the fans that he was desperately trying to stay active when it comes to the UFC in 2020.

However, fights never materialized, and a frustrated McGregor said that he was walking away from the sport. However, recently, Dana White said that the UFC was working on something fun for McGregor. Although, he didn’t say what that something fun was.

It became increasingly clear that this potential boxing match with Pacquiao could be that something fun. This morning, Manny Pacquiao’s team confirmed the news with ESPN Ringside. His team said he would be taking on the former UFC champion next year.

Boxing’s Pacquiao vs UFC’s McGregor

The fight will mark the second time that Conor McGregor has made his way over from the UFC to the world of professional boxing. The first time was McGregor’s money fight against Floyd Mayweather back in 2018.

McGregor showed that he wasn’t just a UFC fighter that night, and even won some rounds against the great Floyd Mayweather. In the end, McGregor succumbed to a 10th round TKO, but he netted a massive payday for the fight.

McGregor returned to the UFC earlier in 2020 finishing Donald Cerrone in the first round at UFC 246. However, it was the last time the promotion could book McGregor. Now, as McGregor has been waiting, a new opportunity has risen.

Pacquiao hasn’t boxed in over a year, but he’s the reigning WBA Super Welterweight Champion. He’s won three straight fights since dropping a controversial decision to Jeff Horn back in 2017. Pacquiao has long been known as one of the best in boxing.

This will be another massive event that will pair the UFC against Boxing. This fight will not be nearly as big as Mayweather/McGregor, but it will definitely be a big event that should generate a ton of money.