Tag: Conor McGregor vs Floyd mayweather

Conor McGregor Slams Floyd Mayweather For Stepping Into MMA Cage

Earlier today, ‘retired’ boxing legend Floyd Mayweather set the collective online mixed martial arts world ablaze after he posted a video of him briefly stepping into an MMA cage, prompting speculation that the UFC debut he shot down late last year could actually happen. It’s unlikely to happen, but if he were to make his […]

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Earlier today, ‘retired’ boxing legend Floyd Mayweather set the collective online mixed martial arts world ablaze after he posted a video of him briefly stepping into an MMA cage, prompting speculation that the UFC debut he shot down late last year could actually happen.

It’s unlikely to happen, but if he were to make his MMA debut against say, former boxing rival Conor McGregor, it may just become the biggest over-the-top scene in the history of MMA – if not combat sports as a whole.

So with the prospect of another record-setting purse (after his first one to box Mayweather has kept him on the sidelines and not defending his UFC belt) in plain view, McGregor was quick to respond to ‘Money’s’ short video on Twitter, laughing at his old foe by calling him his ‘son’ and signing off as ‘Senior’:

Standard operating procedure for “The Notorious,” whose future still remains unknown even though the MMA universe is crying for him to finally defend a UFC title – something he hasn’t done a single time since winning the featherweight title in December 2015.

It’s clear he’s all about the money, and it’s tough to blame him considering this is prizefighting, after all, but if McGregor truly just wants to take ‘money’ fights and never defend his belt, then the UFC owes it to the rest of the lightweight division to strip him and let them continue trying to further their careers.

That would open up a path for McGregor to potentially fight Mayweather in the octagon, something that seems highly unlikely due to the fact most believe ‘Money’ would get destroyed in MMA just like McGregor was stopped in the boxing ring.

The immediate fashion in which McGregor responded makes it seem like the UFC could be working on something in that regard, and it would probably be the Irishman’s first choice for his return if it were indeed a viable option.

For the sake of MMA purists everywhere, let’s hope it is not.

In today’s spectacle-focused era under Endeavor (formerly WME-IMG), it may be, however, so don’t be surprised if this topic heats up quite a bit in the next few days.

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Floyd Mayweather Posts ‘Training’ Video In MMA Cage

Floyd Mayweather just won’t let the rumors about him fighting in the UFC octagon go away. After causing a minor uprising when he teased a ‘billion-dollar’ three or four-fight deal with the UFC in the months after his tenth-round TKO of UFC champion Conor McGregor last August, ‘Money’ finally confirmed it just wasn’t going to […]

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Floyd Mayweather just won’t let the rumors about him fighting in the UFC octagon go away.

After causing a minor uprising when he teased a ‘billion-dollar’ three or four-fight deal with the UFC in the months after his tenth-round TKO of UFC champion Conor McGregor last August, ‘Money’ finally confirmed it just wasn’t going to happen, yet he seems to be teasing it anyway.

Today, Mayweather posted a video on Instagram of him stepping into an MMA cage and taking a few steps – not exactly official training, but a solid troll nonetheless. Check it out:

No matter what the intention of this post was, and it was most likely just to keep the ‘retired’ boxer’s name at the front of combat sports, it remains highly unlikely if not guaranteed that he never sets foot in the octagon or any other MMA cage.

Mayweather has made a career out of only accepting matches where the advantages were all in his camp, and he’s obviously been very successful at that.

Fighting in the UFC would be the exact opposite of how he’s done business his entire career, but it cannot be denied that a Mayweather vs. McGregor match-up in the octagon would be one of the biggest combat sports spectacles of all-time – if not the biggest.

Just don’t count on it, fans.

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Manager Hints Khabib May Say ‘Bye Bye’ After Beating Ferguson & McGregor

Although interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson will take on top contender Khabib Nurmagomedov in the main event of April 7’s UFC 223, the MMA community is still awaiting undisputed lightweight champ Conor McGregor’s next move. Dana White and the UFC have remained coy on the subject, saying that the winner of Ferguson and Khabib would […]

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Although interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson will take on top contender Khabib Nurmagomedov in the main event of April 7’s UFC 223, the MMA community is still awaiting undisputed lightweight champ Conor McGregor’s next move.

Dana White and the UFC have remained coy on the subject, saying that the winner of Ferguson and Khabib would be ‘the champion’ but refusing to say that McGregor had been officially stripped of his title.

It’s prompted widespread speculation if McGregor will ever return to the octagon, and indeed many believe he may not return after making $100 million to box Floyd Mayweather last year, but in a recent interview with TMZ Sports (via Bloody Elbow), Khabib’s manager Ali Abdelaziz said his star would finish Ferguson, pick up a win over McGregor, and retire undefeated:

“We’re gonna beat Tony. We’re gonna stop Tony in three rounds. Khabib’s probably gonna retire undefeated because he’s gonna beat Conor, he’s gonna beat Tony, and he’s probably gonna say ‘Bye-bye.’”

As for just when he might meet McGregor after finally fighting Ferguson, Abdelaziz said Khabib would make McGregor wait to face him, just as he has the rest of the division:

“Khabib said he’s gonna make the motherf**ker wait,” said Abdelaziz. “That’s what he told me, word for word. ‘When I beat Tony, Conor’s got to get in line or he can go fight Nate Diaz or somebody and make some money.’ [Khabib] said he’s gonna make the division right. At the end of the day, he said Conor’s gonna have to beg.

Nurmagomedov turning down a fight with McGregor if he beats Ferguson is a highly unlikely scenario, however, as it would be the biggest fight in MMA right now and perhaps one of the biggest all-time, making any unnecessary waiting a ridiculous proposition – especially considering Nurmagomedov’s never-ending issues with injuries.

So even though it probably won’t happen, Abdelaziz insisted it will because McGregor should have fought his top client in Russia later this year like he said he was going to:

“On April 7, El Cucuy’s gonna get an ass-whooping and maybe Conor, maybe we’ll give him a crack. You see all his b**ch-ass coaches saying ‘Oh, Conor will knock out Khabib in the first round.’ Motherf**ker, you should have fought Khabib when you were supposed to fight him, when you said you wanted to fight him in Russia!”

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Dana White Reacts To Nate Diaz’s Rumored Comeback

UFC veteran Nate Diaz made headlines last night when he posted on Instagram that he was aiming to return this May or June. Diaz has been out of action since his majority decision loss to Conor McGregor at August 2016’s UFC 202, but that didn’t stop two top-ranked lightweights from calling him out for a […]

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UFC veteran Nate Diaz made headlines last night when he posted on Instagram that he was aiming to return this May or June.

Diaz has been out of action since his majority decision loss to Conor McGregor at August 2016’s UFC 202, but that didn’t stop two top-ranked lightweights from calling him out for a potential fight.

It’s unlikely Diaz would accept an offer to meet either of those combatants, however, as he’s made it clear he’ll only return for his highly-publicized (and lucrative) trilogy match with archrival “Notorious,” and only for a massive payday if he does. But that’s not going to stop the UFC from offering the popular Stockton slugger from a fight, as UFC president Dana White told TMZ Sports that he would offer Diaz a fight right away when asked about his comeback:

“I’ll tell ya what. I’ll call him today and make him an offer. I will make Nate Diaz an offer to fight today.

“I gotta look at the rankings and see where everybody is.”

As for which fight he’s going to offer Diaz, White said it most likely won’t be a trilogy match with McGregor because he believes fans want to see ‘The Notorious’ meet the winner of UFC 223’s Ferguson vs. Nurmagomedov – and well, they can do McGregor vs. Diaz III at ‘any time’:

“I think people would rather see Conor come back and either fight Tony [Ferguson] or Khabib [Nurmagomedov] — whoever wins — and the Nate Diaz fight isn’t going anywhere. We can do that thing any time.”

It may be a bit of a stretch to say the UFC can do McGregor vs. Diaz III at ‘any time’ considering the overall uncertainty present that McGregor will even fight in the UFC again after his reported $100 million payday to box Floyd Mayweather last August.

With confusion abound at 155 pounds, the UFC would most likely be lucky to get McGregor back in the octagon to fight the winner of Ferguson vs. Nurmagomedov given the recent circumstances.

That would leave Diaz to fight a lower – albeit elite – level of an opponent, something he’s most likely not willing to do.

Stay tuned to see if Diaz accepts White’s offer.

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Nate Diaz Reveals Date For Planned UFC Return

MMA fans anxiously awaiting Nate Diaz’s UFC return may have gotten the best news they have in months this evening. That is if you’re to believe Diaz’ post on Instagram hinting that he was ‘tired of waiting’ for the ‘f**kers’ in his division to figure it out, so he would be back in a short time. […]

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MMA fans anxiously awaiting Nate Diaz’s UFC return may have gotten the best news they have in months this evening.

That is if you’re to believe Diaz’ post on Instagram hinting that he was ‘tired of waiting’ for the ‘f**kers’ in his division to figure it out, so he would be back in a short time.

The UFC could certainly use the popular and polarizing personality, whose rivalry with absent lightweight champion Conor McGregor is arguably the most popular in MMA history.

But with the UFC 155-pound weight class stagnating with McGregor inactive, Diaz called out his lightweight foes for being boring. Check it out:

“Sick of sitting around waiting for you fuckers to do shit there’s no excitement in this fight shit step your games up I’ll see u around may,June.
Sincerely The Real Champ”

The ‘f**kers’ he’s referring to are the top-ranked competitors in the UFC lightweight division, a supremely skilled class currently held up by the uncertainty of McGregor’s motivation to defend his title.

Interim champion Tony Ferguson will finally fight top-ranked Khabib Nurmagomedov at April 7’s UFC 223 in New York, but even the competitors themselves don’t know if it will be for the interim or actual undisputed championship as the UFC drags their feet.

Putting the Stockton slugger back into the mix would only further complicate things, although his once-red-hot rivalry with McGregor has cooled significantly with the two participating in only one MMA fight combined since their second meeting at August 2016’s UFC 202, which McGregor won by close majority decision.

It’s largely believed McGregor will now defend his title against the winner of Ferguson vs. Khabib, but nothing is clear. Could Diaz pull the ultimate slide-in once again and get his oft-rumored trilogy fight out of nowhere?

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Dana White Provides Frustrating Non-Update On Conor McGregor’s Title Status

The focus of the collective mixed martial arts world was on today’s (Fri. Jan. 19, 2018) UFC 25th Anniversary Series press conference from Boston, where rumors abound that the UFC would strip the lightweight championship from Conor McGregor in order to have Tony Ferguson face Khabib Nurmagomedov for the undisputed title in the main event […]

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The focus of the collective mixed martial arts world was on today’s (Fri. Jan. 19, 2018) UFC 25th Anniversary Series press conference from Boston, where rumors abound that the UFC would strip the lightweight championship from Conor McGregor in order to have Tony Ferguson face Khabib Nurmagomedov for the undisputed title in the main event of April’s UFC 223 from Brooklyn.

But in true UFC form, the promotion wasn’t willing to back up their recent talk tough talk, instead sending out president Dana White to say he still had no update on the absent champion even though the winner of Ferguson vs. Nurmagomedov “would be the champion” (whatever that means) when asked about the messy scene in the very first question of the press conference:

“I have no update. The winner of this fight will be the champion.”

And in true White fashion, the polarizing frontman gave the increasingly tiresome non-update that has gained him much ire from the MMA community for years, but seemingly even more so lately under new owners Endeavor:

“We’ll see what happens.”

Asked if he was frustrated by McGregor’s lack of activity or his recent behaviors, White said he wasn’t surprised by it based on his reported $100 million payday to box Floyd Mayweather last August, which made it uncertain he would ever return to the octagon.

No matter what his decision is, however, White repeated his frequent statement that leaving the talented lightweight division in limbo just isn’t fair to the other elite contenders in the weight class:

“No, I said leading into the Mayweather fight, I made it pretty clear, I’ve been in this business for a very long time, when you make an obscene amount of money like that, who’s know if they’ll ever come back?

“And right now, the position we’re in, Conor’s saying, ‘maybe I’ll come back in August, maybe I’ll come back in September.’ That’s almost two years. It’s not fair to the rest of the guys in the division. The division has to go on. You know, these guys have been fighting their whole career, everyone wants to get to that pinnacle, um, and it’s the fair thing to do.

“Listen, I take so much shit for how much I like Conor McGregor and everything else, but the division has to go on.”

Finally questioned if his lengthy sit on the sidelines was hurting his star power, White stood by his front man and suggested McGregor was one of the biggest stars in all of sports, let alone the UFC:

“I think Conor McGregor is not only one of the biggest stars in mixed martial arts, one of the biggest stars in all of sports on earth. So, this fight is ridiculous. And after this fight happens, whenever Conor does decide to come back I think it will be massive.”

There’s little evidence suggesting McGregor’s return – be it against Ferguson, Khabib, or anyone, really – would be by far the biggest fight going in MMA the moment news of it broke. The problem is we don’t know when that fight will come, or if it ever will.

That has the MMA world on edge anticipating their biggest star’s next move and from the sound of things, fans are going to be waiting significantly longer.

Just don’t expect any clarity from the UFC themselves – as usual.

 

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