Tag: Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz

Conor McGregor Reportedly In Negotiations For Two Fights In 2018

Dana White insisted Conor McGregor ‘understands the decision to strip him’ of his lightweight title, but some further news has surfaced suggesting that may be a moot point. According to Dave Meltzer of F4Wonline.com (via Bloody Elbow), McGregor is in negotiations to return for not only one UFC fight in 2018 but two: “The word is […]

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Dana White insisted Conor McGregor ‘understands the decision to strip him’ of his lightweight title, but some further news has surfaced suggesting that may be a moot point.

According to Dave Meltzer of F4Wonline.com (via Bloody Elbow), McGregor is in negotiations to return for not only one UFC fight in 2018 but two:

“The word is that negotiations with Conor McGregor are going well. No deal to return has been inked but they are said to be not so far apart and are in talks about him doing two fights in 2018.”

A ton of heat has recently surfaced about McGregor possibly returning to face Floyd Mayweather, whom he lost a tenth-round TKO in their hyped boxing match last August, in the Octagon.

However, Meltzer believes that Mayweather will not ultimately sign with the UFC to compete in a sport he would be at a massive disadvantage. And if he does not, the obvious choice for McGregor in the UFC would be a bout versus the winner of UFC 223’s Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov main event:

“All the pub right now is Mayweather under MMA rules but I can’t see Mayweather agreeing to that, even though it’s huge money,” Meltzer noted. “The UFC fight idea is the winner of Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov”

It’s an obvious choice, yet there’s far from a guarantee that McGregor will return to the UFC in 2018, if ever again.

He made a reported $100 million to box Mayweather, and as White hinted in his recent interview where he said Ferguson and Khabib would be fighting ‘for the title,’ he wouldn’t go as far to say that the UFC had officially stripped “The Notorious.”

Many believe that’s coming right before UFC 223.

With White noncommittal on McGregor’s return and the Irish star recently having broken the record for the longest UFC title reign without defending, everything is still as clear as mud.

We don’t fully know what’s going on behind the scenes, but if Meltzer’s report proves true, something huge could be coming soon.

“We’ll see what happens” – Dana White

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Conor McGregor Breaks Record For Longest Title Reign Without Defending

Conor McGregor has a new UFC record, but it’s not necessarily one that will earn him a plaque in the UFC Hall of Fame. One year, three months, and one week – or 464 total days as of today – after he became the first UFC fighter to hold titles in two weight classes simultaneously […]

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Conor McGregor has a new UFC record, but it’s not necessarily one that will earn him a plaque in the UFC Hall of Fame.

One year, three months, and one week – or 464 total days as of today – after he became the first UFC fighter to hold titles in two weight classes simultaneously by defeating Eddie Alvarez, McGregor now holds the record for the longest title reign without attempting to make his first title defense of the lightweight belt according to numbers chronicled by Bloody Elbow, a record McGregor officially broke last Sunday (February 18, 2018).

McGregor also held the UFC featherweight belt but did not defend it for 350 days and was stripped of the title only weeks after winning the lightweight belt.

That absence without defending the belt was long enough for McGregor to also hold the sixth-longest reign without attempting to defend. As it stands as of yesterday, he broke Anthony Pettis for the longest as well, although “Showtime’s” 463-day absence was due to injury, as were the other absences without defending in the top five from Frank Mir, Cain Velasquez’s first reign, and Matt Serra.

McGregor is unique in a sense, however, as his absence has been completely self-imposed. He spent the majority of 2017 seeking and getting a farcical boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, a spectacle that was one of the most lucrative events in combat sports history and made McGregor a reported $100 million, the most likely culprit for his now record-setting absence.

As MMA fans reach a fever pitch in their demands for McGregor to defend the title against the winner of UFC 223’s Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov fight, a contest that’s supposed to be for the ‘real’ title, he’s been lobbying for a rematch with Mayweather, this time in the UFC octagon.

Whispers have also swirled that the UFC will strip McGregor before UFC 223 once they know the oft-scheduled Ferguson vs. Khabib bout will finally happen without incident.

Regardless, McGregor’s inactivity is now historic, and if he were to get a second fight with Mayweather, we could most likely count on him not returning or ever defending his title.

At least he etched his name into the record books – and now, in more ways than one.

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Video: Nate Diaz Blazes Up In Public At UFC Austin

Fan favorite Stockton slugger Nate Diaz has been teasing an anticipated Octagon return in recent months, but he made an impact only he could at tonight’s (Sun. Feb. 18, 2018) UFC Fight Night 126 from Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. Given some limited camera time when the FOX Sports 1 broadcast shifted to him in […]

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Fan favorite Stockton slugger Nate Diaz has been teasing an anticipated Octagon return in recent months, but he made an impact only he could at tonight’s (Sun. Feb. 18, 2018) UFC Fight Night 126 from Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas.

Given some limited camera time when the FOX Sports 1 broadcast shifted to him in the crowd during the program, Diaz used the second such time to light one of his favorite hobbies.

Was it a real blunt? Who knows, but you can’t put it past him, and this won’t hurt the hype for his rumored return at all.

Watch it unfold courtesy of Robbie Fox on Twitter here:

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Conor McGregor Claims Floyd Mayweather Has Backed Out Of Rematch Negotiations

The combat sports world has been besieged with the unfortunate talk of a rematch between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor in the UFC, but according to “The Notorious,” that’s (thankfully) off the table. McGregor posted on Instagram that Mayweather had supposedly backed out of the current fight negotiations, claiming he never sought a rematch in […]

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The combat sports world has been besieged with the unfortunate talk of a rematch between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor in the UFC, but according to “The Notorious,” that’s (thankfully) off the table.

McGregor posted on Instagram that Mayweather had supposedly backed out of the current fight negotiations, claiming he never sought a rematch in the first place and wishing him a mockingly great retirement:

“I am happy for Floyd and his recent announcement that he is out of these current fight negotiations. It is the reason I never seeked the rematch in the first place. I was happy for him in retirement.

“My game is a very unforgiving one. It is not like other games.
I understand completely him staying retired. I will now carry on in my negotiations and see where it goes.

“Have a great retirement Junior.

Now come here and give your old man a hug for old times sake. I’m proud of you son.

Yours truly,
Senior.”

The post sounds a bit more like a goading for Mayweather to further emerge himself in negotiations rather than a confirmation that he had backed out.

But it’s definitely hard to envision Mayweather coming out of retirement to put his spotless combat sports record on the line in a sport where he has a massive disadvantage.

“The Notorious” is certainly baiting the hook for him to do just that, and there’s little doubt UFC ownership would love to stage what would be by far the biggest-ever combat sporting spectacle of all-time in 2018, even amidst never-ending cries for the Irish megastar to finally defend a UFC title.

Are you buying what he’s selling, or is he merely trying to get “Money” to sign on the dotted line?

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Khabib Reveals UFC Will “100 Percent” Strip Conor McGregor’s Title

It seems the collective mixed martial arts world may be a bit burnt out on waiting for UFC lightweight champ Conor McGregor to return to the Octagon, and one of his biggest prospective foes is no different. Although a host of potentially massive UFC bouts, most namely a title unification bout with the winner of […]

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It seems the collective mixed martial arts world may be a bit burnt out on waiting for UFC lightweight champ Conor McGregor to return to the Octagon, and one of his biggest prospective foes is no different.

Although a host of potentially massive UFC bouts, most namely a title unification bout with the winner of UFC 223’s Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov, await the controversial Irishman, McGregor has largely drug his feet concerning his return since a reported $100 million payday to box Floyd Mayweather last August.

And it’s the money tied to “Money” that appears to be driving McGregor once again, as any buzz surrounding his next fight has seemed to be focused on a potential – and farcical – MMA bout with Mayweather in the UFC. That has many justifiably wondering if he’ll ever return to MMA, a sentiment Nurmagomedov echoed during a recent interview with TMZ Sports:

In the brief spot, “The Eagle” stated that McGregor’s lengthy absence from MMA dating back to November 2016

“When is Conor compete last time in MMA? I forget about this. Yeah long time. He’s boxing guy. He’s good to stay in boxing, because you have to compete in MMA, like wrestling, grappling, completion is like 25 minutes – it’s very hard to him.”

A solid point to be sure, but lest we not forget Nurmagomedov took almost two years off himself with a litany of concerning injuries that had him wondering if he would ever compete in MMA again, so while it’s a different (and perhaps more understandable) reason, layoffs happen in a sport as unpredictable as MMA.

As for McGregor, Nurmagomedov wondered when he would actually come back, doubting that he would at all:

“But when? They talk about Mayweather fight. I don’t think he gonna come back.”

If he does not, his lightweight title would obviously have to be contested between Ferguson and Khabib, although the UFC has yet to make anything official on that front. But with rumors flying that they will do just that the day before UFC 223, “The Eagle” insists he’s “100 percent” has a contract in place to fight Ferguson for the unified title:

“We gonna fight for his belt. UFC strip his belt now, we gonna fight for real belt. 100 percent. I have contract, I have contract, like real belt. What they gonna do? They have only one real belt – they have interim belt and they have real belt. They send me contract. We gonna fight with Tony Ferguson for real belt. I have contract.”

“They gonna strip this belt. I have contract for real belt. I don’t know, maybe they don’t want him upset because he make good money. maybe? I know that I’m gonna fight for the real belt because I have contract.”

The waiting game will continue on that front, but if McGregor ultimately does not return, the sport would miss out on a massive McGregor vs. Nurmagomedov fight in Russia, a bout that could realistically be the biggest fight in UFC history.

“The Eagle” isn’t too optimistic it will ever happen, however:

“Uh, I don’t know, to be honest. I don’t know.”

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CM Punk Is Already Favored Big Over Floyd Mayweather In The UFC

With rumors abound that Floyd Mayweather will somehow make his way to the UFC to face Conor McGregor in a rematch under MMA rules, speculation about “Money’s” UFC debut is running rampant. He’d clearly be a massive underdog to UFC lightweight champion McGregor, just like ‘The Notorious’ was to him heading into their first match […]

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With rumors abound that Floyd Mayweather will somehow make his way to the UFC to face Conor McGregor in a rematch under MMA rules, speculation about “Money’s” UFC debut is running rampant.

He’d clearly be a massive underdog to UFC lightweight champion McGregor, just like ‘The Notorious’ was to him heading into their first match in the boxing ring last year (although it wasn’t as much as you would have thought), but ‘Money’ is already a sizable dog to a much less touted UFC fighter now as well.

After Joe Rogan recently spouted off that Mayweather should take a ‘tune-up’ fight in MMA with 0-1 former pro wrestler Phillip “CM Punk” Brooks, who, at 39 years old, has competed one time in the Octagon since his debut was announced at UFC 181 in December 2014. Rogan seems to believe that Mayweather ‘has a  real chance’ against Brooks, but the oddsmakers at BetDSI.com beg to differ.

According to their newly-released fight odds for the far-off bout, Punk would come in as a significant -300 (three-to-one in favor of him) favorite while Mayweather is a +220 underdog, meaning a $100 bet on him would earn you $220 if he won. When questioned by Bloody Elbow about their rationale for the early odds, BetDSI has the following to say:

“If they fought in UFC, Punk would probably destroy him. Punk’s size will come into play, and he’s been grappling with high-level guys for some time now. He’ll get the fight to the floor and finish Floyd. Punk via ground.”

Decent enough points to be sure, but it’s also worth noting Punk got destroyed by Mickey Gall on the ground in his first UFC fight. Mayweather is nowhere near that level on the mat, of course, and Punk would likely hold a massive edge there, but ‘Money’s’ edge on the feet would be sizable as well.

Rogan also brought up the point of Mayweather’s numerous past issues with hand injuries, a dynamic that would obviously be greatly enhanced if he decides to fight with four-ounce gloves.

Dynamics aside, however, it’s a fight that will almost assuredly never happen, and it’s also a bit of a joke that we’re talking about this fight actually taking place in the UFC today.

That’s what it takes the new UFC owners (who aren’t so new anymore – just appearing to be inept) to sell fights in 2018, I guess.

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