Seeing Conor McGregor seated cageside at UFC 179 in Brazil couldn’t have been much comfort to fellow featherweight contenders Cub Swanson and Frankie Edgar.
The provocative Irishman stole the show in the lead up to featherweight champion Jose Aldo’s successful title defense to No. 1 contender Chad Mendes, but Swanson maintained he’d been ‘assured’ the next shot with a win over Edgar Nov. 22 in Austin, Texas.
In a sport where talk is especially cheap, not even McGregor’s January booking against Denis Siver in Boston made you believe it would be anyone but him next against Aldo.
Thursday, UFC president Dana White downplayed talk of a McGregor title shot but left himself plenty of room to navigate.
“I told Cub and Frankie, ‘Don’t worry about anything you hear with all the Conor McGregor talk and all the other stuff,” White told UFC.com. “You worry about Cub Swanson and you worry about Frankie Edgar.'”
Parity at 145 pounds is a welcome sight to White, but likely less so for Swanson, having already been passed over for title shots more than a few times.
“Believe me, the fact that people are arguing over who should get a title shot in the 145-pound division isn’t a bad thing,” said White. “It’s a good thing.”
Swanson faces Edgar Nov. 22 in the main event at UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Swanson.
5 MUST-READ STORIES
MMA Beat. The panel discusses Nevada finally drug testing Vitor Belfort, whether MMA needs the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, the state of Invicta FC, the next two loaded weekends in MMA, and much more.
Rumble cleared to return. The UFC announced Thursday that the civil case levied against Anthony Johnson stemming from past allegations of domestic abuse has been dismissed.
Shogun open. Mauricio Rua says he would be open to a fight with Anderson Silva after coaching against him on TUF: Brazil.
Loaded. Dana White explains why he wanted to make it up to Los Angeles by putting on a stacked card at the Staples Center.
‘She needs the attention.’ During an ‘Ask me anything,’ Cris Cyborg gave some advice to rising female prospects. ”Make a bunch of photo shoots and spend more time on Instagram and Facebook than training.’
MEDIA STEW
Fight Night: Sydney weigh-in highlights. (Full weigh-ins here)
Wanderlei Silva releases another video calling for change and improved conditions for fighters.
More from Roy Jones Jr. on wanting to box Anderson Silva and Nick Diaz.
One round with Michael Bisping.
Nice quick profile on Bellator commentator Jimmy Smith.
Paulo Filho talking about being shot in Brazil. (Remember to turn on the captioning and translate to english. Not great but it’s better than nothing.)
The old ‘kneebar from back mount.’
Long watches.
UFC Fight Night Sydney: Fight Club Q&A
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Brendan and Bryan’s wild day at Black House
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Brawls & Beers 4: A look ahead to Rockhold/Bisping
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Team Alpha Male Radio – Urijah Faber
TWEETS
Heads up, Gus.
Civil Case against me was dismissed. Im cleared to fight again…Story on http://t.co/gtMpxzNVsm
— Anthony Johnson (@Anthony_Rumble) November 6, 2014
Cuttin’.
My weigh in day breakfast. One poached egg, avo, papaya and a couple sips of black coffee … http://t.co/vBBZ7YNCqF pic.twitter.com/XTIWvzrRRj
— Luke Rockhold (@LukeRockhold) November 6, 2014
Weight cut in full effect http://t.co/90yBduEWTf pic.twitter.com/wFq2hWxU1P
— russell doane (@RussellDoane135) November 6, 2014
Shedding some wt in the craziest gym/club I’ve ever seen. it had EVERYTHING. @torque1net http://t.co/UWUuWLzpOh pic.twitter.com/OiKzVamkCL
— Charlie Brenneman (@SpaniardMMA) November 7, 2014
Weigh in day. Only 5 pounds to cut. Thank you @sweetsweatca for making it so much easier pic.twitter.com/RxYiF4mzHl
— Chris Clements (@menaceclements) November 6, 2014
Still hasn’t left.
#VegasLiving pic.twitter.com/L0QvQf6nsq
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) November 6, 2014
Get at him.
I bought 2 tix to @MetamorisPro so I could watch @RenzoGracieBJJ live. I can’t go. Who wa… http://t.co/NeJ6hnobUt pic.twitter.com/4V9ERzFFTQ
— chael sonnen (@sonnench) November 7, 2014
In good hands.
So proud of my kids @ufc http://t.co/SRKspb0blJ pic.twitter.com/bmSSWzhELU
— Frankie Edgar (@FrankieEdgar) November 7, 2014
Get well soon.
Fucking sick I’m not in Sydney weighting in best of luck @RichieVaculik
— Neil 2 Tap Seery (@NeilSeeryMMA) November 7, 2014
Skip to about 15 minutes.
If you missed my Live Video Chat, here is the recording: http://t.co/psYm3egbKw #mma #UFC
— Andrei Arlovski (@AndreiArlovski) November 7, 2014
Threw up in that office once. True story.
:-/ lol “@Renato_Laranja: I’m gonna take you all the way to the chop @MieshaTate. pic.twitter.com/IggyrNqqpd“
— Miesha Tate (@MieshaTate) November 6, 2014
Damn.
Missed @JonnyBones & @Alistairovereem this morning. I think they were having a tea party @JacksonsMMA #Sparring
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunsonMMA) November 6, 2014
Oh, Pat.
Got that Dutch style.
Getting there.
Dana can’t be happy.
On the way to the air port, and said hey can I jump off that?? Yes. Will send video shortly #basejump pic.twitter.com/KwTgKFEUgi
— Cowboy Cerrone (@Cowboycerrone) November 6, 2014
Sorry about that…
Just to clarify I’m looking for a fight date. I am NOT looking for a “date”. Thanks for all your concern & creepy messages. 😉
— LIZ CARMOUCHE (@iamgirlrilla) November 6, 2014
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announced yesterday (Oct. 6 2014)
Cathal Pendred vs. Sean Spencer at UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Siver
FANPOST OF THE DAY
Today’s Fanpost of the Day comes via GuyFi.
Why fights booked far in advance are more likely to never happen
With injuries plaguing all the major UFC events this year many wonder what is causing this problem and what might be done to stop it. Cancelled fights hurt fighters, promoters, and fans.
Various ideas get floated about what might be done to reduce the likelihood of injuries every time a major fight such as the main event of UFC 178 (both times) is scrapped. Usually this discussion focuses on specific techniques to reduce (full-impact sparring, takedowns, training with Alistair Overeem, etc.). Sadly I’m not qualified to write intelligently about those ideas, so this post focuses on a much simpler idea of how to reduce the incidence of injuries wrecking fight cards.
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Check out the rest of the post here.
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