Tag: Conor McGregor vs Nate Diaz II

Conor McGregor Was Google’s Most Searched Athlete In 2017

Conor McGregor is currently drawing the collective ire of the mixed martial arts community in the months after his circus-like boxing match against undefeated champion Floyd Mayweather last August. The UFC lightweight champion is without a UFC fight booking to defend his title, which he won in November 2016, the first time, and many have […]

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Conor McGregor is currently drawing the collective ire of the mixed martial arts community in the months after his circus-like boxing match against undefeated champion Floyd Mayweather last August.

The UFC lightweight champion is without a UFC fight booking to defend his title, which he won in November 2016, the first time, and many have criticized him for allegedly avoiding top lightweights Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov, who will fight at April 7’s UFC 223.

The Irish megastar furthered those beliefs this week by appearing to goad Mayweather to come and take him on in the UFC, a fight that undoubtedly draw more massive numbers but also risk tarnishing his status in the eyes of fans.

That may not matter to the money-focused McGregor, however, who’s appeared more focused on flaunting his reported $100-million payday to box Mayweather than actually fighting again. He can afford to, and no matter what he chooses to do next, he’s proven to be not only the UFC’s biggest star but also one of the biggest in sports overall. Mayweather vs. McGregor brought in over 600 million dollars and 4.3 million pay-per-view buys, and now word has broken from Dana Rebecca (via Bloody Elbow) that McGregor was the highest-searched athlete of 2017 according to the following numbers:

The boxing match with Mayweather was the second-biggest combat sports of all-time, and the over-the-top promotion world tour no doubt sent McGregor’s star into the stratosphere. The UFC suffered on PPV without him in 2017, failing to notch a million-plus selling card without their biggest star, who had three of his own in 2016 alone.

But they profited majorly for the year overall thanks to the fight, showing just how star-driven a sport MMA truly is. People love to follow whatever McGregor does, no matter if they love him or hate him. True, his fanbase may be beginning to wane as he drags his feet and draws out his UFC return – if it ever comes at all.

But if and when his next fight is announced, and it most likely will be towards the second half of the year, the hype will be back on in a big way. That’s the effect he had and has on the entire sport, and his internet search numbers prove it.

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Floyd Mayweather Continues MMA Hype With Second In-Cage Video

Floyd Mayweather is continuing his hype train for an improbable mixed martial arts (MMA) debut. One day after ‘Money’ posted a video of him stepping into a cage that got a response from his recent boxing enemy Conor McGregor, the undefeated boxing legend is back pouring on the hype more than he ever has for […]

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Floyd Mayweather is continuing his hype train for an improbable mixed martial arts (MMA) debut.

One day after ‘Money’ posted a video of him stepping into a cage that got a response from his recent boxing enemy Conor McGregor, the undefeated boxing legend is back pouring on the hype more than he ever has for his supposed MMA comeback, which he seemed to shoot down late last year.

Today, Mayweather posted the following video where he says, “2018. Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather. MMA. What are the odds?” The odds would seem to be astronomically high, but check out the spot anyway:

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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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