Conor McGregor is everywhere these days. He’s even starting to show up in the past, so to speak.
Combing through the MMA Reddit page, one can find many hidden gems. Today a video of Connor McGregor surfaced. In it we get to see the walkouts of bo…
ConorMcGregor is everywhere these days. He’s even starting to show up in the past, so to speak.
Combing through the MMA Reddit page, one can find many hidden gems. Today a video of Connor McGregor surfaced. In it we get to see the walkouts of both Georges St-Pierre and Johny Hendricks for their UFC 167 title fight, as experienced through the eyes of the featherweight contender.
You get a panoramic point-of-view perspective with guest cameo appearances from the likes of Forrest Griffin, Stephan Bonnar, Dan Henderson, Michael Bisping and even the legendary Dan Severn (still rocking his signature mustache).
At the time, McGregor was only 2-0 in the UFC. It was just a few months after he’d defeated Max Holloway at Fight Night 26 in front of a Boston crowd that was essentially a home away from home for him. McGregor was a star in the making at the time.
Now, of course, he’s come nearly full circle.
All that remains is his title shot with Jose Aldo, which is set for UFC 189 on July 11 in Las Vegas. Should he win, he’ll cement himself as one of the biggest stars in the UFC alongside fellow champs like Ronda Rousey, Jon Jones and Chris Weidman.
If you weren’t aware that Robbie Lawler was defending his welterweight belt at UFC 189 against Rory MacDonald then you are forgiven.
All of the promotional rub for UFC 189 thus far has gone to featherweight contender Conor McGregor and his surly counte…
If you weren’t aware that Robbie Lawler was defending his welterweight belt at UFC 189 against Rory MacDonald then you are forgiven.
All of the promotional rub for UFC 189 thus far has gone to featherweight contender ConorMcGregor and his surly counterpart, the champ, Jose Aldo. Aldo and McGregor were sent packing on a week-long trek that spanned five countries and eight cities.
Lawler and MacDonald tagged along for part of it. They kept things completely civil.
The tagline for UFC 189 involving them reads as: UFC 189 will also feature a welterweight title fight as its co-main event. Usually main event status is reserved for the title fight being contested in the heavier weight class. But this time around, the lighter lads stole the lead spot.
If you thought Lawler and MacDonald were sulking over playing second fiddle, you’d be mistaken. While McGregor opted to go all out in promoting his fight, with Aldo along for the ride, Lawler and MacDonald seem to be more than content with the more subdued approach to selling themselves.
Truth be told, these guys are the type that like to let their fists do the talking.
But just because they are not spitting fire and cursing each other out at every turn, that doesn’t mean they cannot be inadvertently humorous. In the below video, courtesy the folks at The Late O’Clock News, host Paul Lemieux gets the duo to read notecards with scripted lines of trash talk.
For two guys that usually don’t show much emotion, Lawler and McDonald really seemed to get into their performances. Our personal favorite line was delivered by Lawler: “I hope you’re not allergic to being killed.”
With a win over former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, Luke Rockhold is possibly in line for a middleweight title shot between the winner of Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort.
Rockhold and Machida are set to collide on April 18th in the m…
With a win over former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, Luke Rockhold is possibly in line for a middleweight title shot between the winner of Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort.
Rockhold and Machida are set to collide on April 18th in the main event for UFC on Fox 15. It’s the biggest fight of Rockhold’s career so he was no doubt devastated when he found out Machida was injured and out of their fight.
Machida was not injured of course, but newly minted BJPenn.com video reporter Layzie the Savage saw it as the perfect opportunity to prank Rockhold. Savage wrote up a fake article on BJPenn.com which Rockhold was reading at the time that Savage was recording him.
Savage took things to a new level by actually pulling his stunt on March 31st, the night before April Fools day. Rockhold didn’t stand a chance, and didn’t take kindly to the shenanigans as he hurled his cell phone in the direction of Savage.
To see the hijinks in living color, check out the video below. Note: The video does contain profane language.
It’s a safe bet that if former welterweight champion Johny Hendricks is fighting for a parking spot, he’ll get the win via first-round beatdown.
In the latest episode of the UFC’s Embedded series, ahead of his UFC 185 fight versus Matt Brown…
It’s a safe bet that if former welterweight champion Johny Hendricks is fighting for a parking spot, he’ll get the win via first-round beatdown.
In the latest episode of the UFC’s Embedded series, ahead of his UFC 185 fight versus Matt Brown, “Bigg Rigg” showed off his set of wheels. Needless to say, parking isn’t the easiest task with a behemoth like this. Thankfully, in this scene, he found a few empty spots.
His fortress on wheels comes with lots of bells and whistles.
Including quite the external speaker system, on either side of the truck, that raises up on command. When Johnny and Co. want to do a little tailgating in his hometown of Dallas, they will have music for miles. If one didn’t know better, it almost looks like a missile-defense system.
And for good measure, just in case Hendricks wants to haul what a semi truck can, he’s got the hookups and the towing power for that.
The former champ is coming off a five-round title fight loss to Robbie Lawler. He needs a big win against Brown this Saturday night if he wants to stay in the title hunt and possibly earn a shot back at gold in the second half of 2015.
Win or lose, though, at least Hendricks can take pride in having one of the beefiest rides on the road.
Former middleweight champion Anderson Silva will make his long-awaited return to the Octagon this Saturday night at UFC 183 in Las Vegas. His opponent will be the inscrutable Nick Diaz, who is also returning to action after being aw…
Former middleweight champion Anderson Silva will make his long-awaited return to the Octagon this Saturday night at UFC 183in Las Vegas. His opponent will be the inscrutable Nick Diaz, who is also returning to action after being away for over a year.
Silva’s layoff was the result of a gruesome leg injury. Meanwhile, Diaz took time off because he’d grown tired of fighting. It was only a fight and big payoff opposite Silva that brought him back.
Before their fight can be made official, both fighters have to make weight. There will be 22 fighters in total weighing in Friday at 7 p.m. ET.
Thursday, the two faced off during the UFC 183 media day—and things ended with a hug. The two have been very respectful with each other in the lead-up to this fight, the polar opposite of what we saw with Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier in the buildup to their fight earlier this month.
While nobody knows exactly how this fight will play out, most seem to be picking the 40-year-old former champ in Silva. Diaz is moving up in weight to face a bigger, stronger opponent. While both are great strikers, Silva is much more diverse, and his incredibly accurate counter-striking approach is tailor made to take out the hard-charging, overaggressive approach of Diaz.
But it’s an MMA fight and anything can happen once those cage doors close.
The full lineup for the fight card is below. Check back for official results. For a more detailed accounting of the weigh-ins, follow along with our live blog.
Main Card Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET
Anderson Silva vs. Nick Diaz TyronWoodley vs. Kelvin Gastelum Joe Lauzon vs. Al Iaquinta Thales Leites vs. Tim Boetsch ThiagoAlves vs. Jordan Mein Preliminary Card Fox Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET
Miesha Tate vs. Sara McMann Derek Brunson vs. Ed Herman Ian McCall vs. John Lineker Rafael Natal vs. Tom Watson
UFC Fight Pass, 7 p.m. ET
Diego Brandao vs. JimyHettes IldemarAlcantara vs. Richardson Moreira Andy Enz vs. Thiago Santos
In every sport, there exists a perpetual debate as to who the greatest of all time is. And with each passing generation, the line blurs between the ghosts of past, present and future.
Mixed martial arts, under the banner of the UFC,&nb…
In every sport, there exists a perpetual debate as to who the greatest of all time is. And with each passing generation, the line blurs between the ghosts of past, present and future.
Mixed martial arts, under the banner of the UFC, turned 20 in 2013. In comparison to its more seasoned siblings, MMA is going through puberty. But that doesn’t mean the cage hasn’t showcased its share of brilliance.
What was once mostly spectacle, like matching a 600-pound sumo wrestler against a 170-pound whirling dervish, became a fully defined sport. And when it’s performed at its finest, MMA can be a ballet of violence.
A few names rise above the rest when talk turns to the greatest MMA fighter of all time. It starts with the self-effacing Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko. In real time, some are already willing to proclaim current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones as the man.
Between those two in the debate are two different champions in Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva. You can make a case for both, as well as for the two aforementioned fighters, but for many, the guy who’s making his long-awaited return this weekend at UFC 183stands tallest.
Fans and pundits alike compare win-loss records. They debate respective strength of competition and add up who has more knockouts and submissions versus judges’ decisions. Win streaks and total time as champion matter. Bonus points if they’ve held belts in more than one organization.
Beyond the calculators, protractors and the inexact science of it all, there’s the poetry found in motion. The splendor of Silva is what separates him from the others.
Think about the way he moved and the manner in which he flattened once tall men. Silva was the first mixed martial artist who made you feel you were breathing in the Matrix. He’d mastered the sequencing of ones and zeros and was giving us the woman in the red dress.
We couldn’t look away. And then, just like that, it all came crashing down. With the flick of a wrist, Silva’s near seven-year reign was over at the hands of an agent of change in the unbeaten Chris Weidman.
In their first fight, Silva’s bullet-dodging backfired. Weidman dropped the champ with a left hook and followed it up with some retaliatory(Caution: Strong language) ground-and-pound. The second match added injury to insult with the leg break that put The Spider out of action for 13 months.
Silva could have easily called it a career. The injury was an excruciating one.
A few months shy of 39 at the time, he had nothing left to prove. But he refused to be put out to pasture. Over the past year, various videos of Silva’s comeback trail flooded the Internet. The ones of him kicking with his mending leg were the most visceral.
When he steps into the cage Saturday night at UFC 183, it will be a moment that lives with his fans forever. Jack Dempsey said, “A champion is someone who gets up when he can’t.” Silva didn’t have to get up, but he did.
Combat sports are unforgiving by design.
Most career endings are not the stuff of Hollywood. There’s no guarantee that Silva’s final dance, whenever it comes, won’t be any prettier than if he’d hobbled out on a broken leg.
But at least he’ll be going out on his terms—GOAT status in tow for the time.
Conor McGregor is everywhere these days. He’s even starting to show up in the past, so to speak. 