Conor McGregor promises to put on a show for the fans at UFC 246. Conor McGregor is supremely confident ahead of his return fight against Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 this Saturday, as the Irishman has prom…
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Conor McGregor promises to put on a show for the fans at UFC 246.
Conor McGregor is supremely confident ahead of his return fight against Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 this Saturday, as the Irishman has promised to toy with ‘Cowboy’ and put on a ‘beautiful’ performance for the fans who’ll be in attendance at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.
Speaking to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani in a recent interview (h/t Abhinav Kini of The Low Kick MMA), ‘The Notorious’ said he expects his fight with Cerrone to be a walk in the park and is treating his opponent as a glorified sparring partner. McGregor also said he expects to fight Justin Gaethje — the man who has been at McGregor’s throat for the better part of a year — sometime later in the year.
“Possibly this year,” McGregor said of the proposed match-up with Gaethje. “I’m going to be active. This [fight vs. Cerrone] is a spar to me. I’m going to go in here and do as I please in here. Put on a show for the fans and get a beautiful win.”
“Going through the divisions, look at me — three weight divisions,” he added. “No one’s doing this. I’m very, very excited and very happy. Long may the opponents continue to come and I’ll continue to knock them down.”
McGregor hasn’t fought since his lightweight title loss against undefeated Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229, which saw the former two-division titleholder submitted in the fourth round via neck crank.
UFC 246: McGregor vs. Cerrone takes place on Saturday, January 18 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Dana White has already gone on record saying that if Conor McGregor defeats Donald Cerrone this Saturday (Jan. 18, 2020) in Las Vegas, Nevada, he will be on standby to replace either Khabib Nurmago…
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Dana White has already gone on record saying that if Conor McGregor defeats Donald Cerrone this Saturday (Jan. 18, 2020) in Las Vegas, Nevada, he will be on standby to replace either Khabib Nurmagomedov or Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 this April.
“What he’s been obsessed with since his last fight is the rematch with Khabib. So Saturday is a big step in that direction. And to be honest with you, Conor believes that Khabib vs Tony is not going to happen,” White told The Mac Life.
The fight has been booked four times before, and each time it’s fallen through for various reasons. So you can’t completely blame people for being on edge after the promotion announced the bout four months in advance.
And while Khabib has also been the responsible party for pulling out of a Ferguson bout, Conor says Tony will be the one to once again fall out. That’s why he is so confident that with a win over Cerrone, he will get his much-desired rematch against “The Eagle” sooner, rather than later.
“He believes that fight will not happen. So he wanted this fight at 170 pounds so he can get back in there and shake off some ring rust, get a win and turn right back around and fight Khabib when Tony falls out, is what he believes.”
That said, “Cowboy” is more than happy to play spoiler.
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 246 fight card this weekend RIGHT HERE, starting with the Fight Pass/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 246: “McGregor vs. Cerrone” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.
“Straight after, Dana White was mentioning the rematch and even I touched base on it but watching back the tape, the fight wasn’t probably as close as I originally thought.” Alexander Volkanovski was initial…
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“Straight after, Dana White was mentioning the rematch and even I touched base on it but watching back the tape, the fight wasn’t probably as close as I originally thought.”
Alexander Volkanovski was initially on board with an immediate rematch against Max Holloway but, after re-watching the fight at home, the newly-crowned UFC featherweight champion isn’t so sure the match-up makes sense.
Volkanovski, who beat Holloway via unanimous decision and snapped ‘Blessed’s’ 14-fight win streak at featherweight, says the fight wasn’t as close as he had originally thought.
Speaking to MMA Fighting on Monday, the New South Wales, Australia-based talent said an immediate rematch with Holloway wouldn’t be his first choice for his first title defense but would accept the fight if that’s what the UFC offered.
“Watching it again and I was trying to watch it as I was trying not to be biased,” Volkanovski said. “I was definitely trying to notice everything that he done. I was struggling to give him one round. I really did. There’s obviously rounds that was a lot closer than others but if you’re giving him a round, it’s purely because he was champion and you wanted him to win. That’s the way I look at it. There was some rounds that were a little bit closer but I was struggling to give him a round. I really was. But it’s not like I blew him out of the park every round but I was definitely ahead.”
“If it was a lot closer, a split decision, stuff like that, I mean my coaches are even going to say he deserves that rematch. But they watched the tape and they’re like ‘you can’t just give him a rematch after that.’ I’m the type of person, I’ll fight whoever.
“I believe I’ll get the job done anyway. Not just that, I reckon there’s money in that rematch as well and I could probably redo my contract, we’ll see. Again, we’ll just see. There’s time.”
Volkanovski is expected to be out of action until June and, during that time, the 31-year-old says the likes of Korean Zombie, Zabit Magomedsharipov and Holloway can duke it out to determine the next No. 1 contender.
“No one’s a clear No. 1 contender. I’m on the sidelines. Right now, I’ve got a broken hand. What can I do? But I know what these boys can do. They can solidify themselves as the No. 1 contender,” Volkanovski said. “Take someone out. Take out whoever you feel can put you in that No. 1 spot. Do what I done. That’s what I done leading into my title fight.
“I fought Chad Mendes to make sure I was in the top five. Then I wanted to fight [Jose] Aldo, secure that No. 1 contender’s spot. Fought him in his backyard. Not that many people would do that but I did that to give me that No. 1 spot. I just think that’s something these guys can do. It might be June or July when I’m fighting, I don’t know yet so go solidify yourself as the No. 1 contender and I’ll see you soon.”
Volkanovski is on a whopping 18-fight win streak and currently ranked #9 in the UFC pound-for-pound rankings.
Check out Keyboard to the Cage, a special vlog series that follows Bloody Elbow’s own Eddie Mercado, as he prepares for his upcoming professional MMA debut on Friday, January 31st.
Check out Keyboard to the Cage, a special vlog series that follows Bloody Elbow’s own Eddie Mercado, as he prepares for his upcoming professional MMA debut on Friday, January 31st.
As it stands, Jorge Masvidal is the man who will likely get the next title shot against Welterweight king, Kamaru Usman, later this year. The only problem is, Usman doesn’t know who Masvidal…
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As it stands, Jorge Masvidal is the man who will likely get the next title shot against Welterweight king, Kamaru Usman, later this year. The only problem is, Usman doesn’t know who Masvidal is, according to “Gamebred” himself.
But that’s not entirely true, Kamaru acknowledges Jorge and has given him credit in the past, he just doesn’t feel he’s earned his way up the ladder as a title contender yet.
“He’s misunderstanding me,” Usman explained when speaking to MMA Fighting. “He’s playing that angle that I’m saying I don’t know who he is. I know exactly who he is and I’ve given him props,” he added.
“That’s the one thing about me, I’m not a hater in any way, shape, form or fashion. I give respect where respect is due. Him fighting, yeah, I know him fighting but when they brought up you fight Jorge Masvidal next I’m like ‘who?’
For Usman, there are several other contenders ahead of Jorge who are more deserving at a crack at his crown. And not owning a win over a top six fighter means Masvidal has some more work to do.
“There are guys that are more deserving [of a title shot]. Jorge Masvidal doesn’t have a win over anyone in the top six. Does not have a win over anybody in the top six. I’ve beaten five of the top six guys in the division. That’s why I said that.”
To be fair, the rankings at the moment do not tell the entire tale. Masvidal is the owner of three straight wins against former title contender, Darren Till, Nate Diaz and handed Ben Askren his first-ever loss, all via knockout or technical knockout.
And at the time of said wins, both Ben and Till were in the top five.
Other than Leon Edwards — who has won eight straight — no other contender in the top five (excluding Usman, of course) has a better mark over the last year. So unless Kamaru is planning on rematching Colby Covington (No. 2) or Tyron Woodley (No. 1), Masvidal seems like shoe-in for the title shot.
For Usman, however, there is one person who deserves a title fight before Jorge, and that’s none other than former division king, Georges St-Pierre.
“He’s putting out that video saying I don’t know who he is. I absolutely know who he is. There’s just guys who are absolutely more deserving,” Usman said. “You’re telling me right now if Georges St-Pierre comes back, he’s not more deserving of that title shot than Jorge Masvidal? Absolutely he gets it.
Then again, that is just a hypothetical scenario because as we all know, “Rush” is not walking through that Octagon door anytime soon, removing yet another hurdle standing in Jorge’s way.
Conor McGregor admits to drinking alcohol prior to his fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229. It doesn’t look like Conor McGregor was taking his training camp too seriously for the Khabib fight, as ‘T…
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Conor McGregor admits to drinking alcohol prior to his fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229.
It doesn’t look like Conor McGregor was taking his training camp too seriously for the Khabib fight, as ‘The Notorious’ admitted in a recent interview with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani that he was drinking alcohol and getting drunk during UFC 229 fight week.
“Good couple of months ago (since I drank),” McGregor said in the lead-up to his return bout against Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 (h/t MMA Junkie). “Three, four months ago maybe. … I was drinking all the way through fight week last time (for Nurmagomedov).”
McGregor says UFC 229 was an exception and admits he never usually drinks before fights. According to the man himself, there was ‘venom’ in his blood in the lead-up to the Khabib bout.
“Not to that extent (it wasn’t common),” McGregor said. “I just had this venom in me or something. I don’t know why.”
Explaining his pre-fight antics in detail, McGregor said he would often celebrate with alcohol after beating up Russian and Dagestani men in what ‘The Notorious’ describes as ‘full-blown’ fights in the gym.
“I had people holed up in a hotel from that part of the world (Dagestan/Russia), and I would ring and arrange a fight and I would ring them and they would come down to the gym and have a full-blown fight – no head guard, gloves that were small,” he said. “A fight. I’d win, I’d have a war, and I’d win and I’d knock the guy out then I’d go off and celebrate. Then I’d come back in three days – not doing what I should’ve been doing, not living the life I should’ve been.”
“I’m not going back there,” he added. “I’m in a better place. I’ve made mistakes and I’ve been man enough to admit them and correct it, and that’s what I’ve done. I might not be perfect, but with a good sleep and a full belly, I’m damn close.”
UFC 246: McGregor vs. Cerrone takes place this Saturday, Jan. 18 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
