Tag: Conor McGregor vs. Tony Ferguson

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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Tony Ferguson Claims He Was Offered Conor McGregor Fight

Interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson will be finally fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov at April’s UFC 223 from Brooklyn, but he claims that wasn’t the original idea. Ferguson revealed at today’s UFC 25th Anniversary Series press conference from Boston that Conor McGregor was offered a fight against him, but he declined to do so. McGregor hasn’t fought […]

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Interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson will be finally fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov at April’s UFC 223 from Brooklyn, but he claims that wasn’t the original idea.

Ferguson revealed at today’s UFC 25th Anniversary Series press conference from Boston that Conor McGregor was offered a fight against him, but he declined to do so. McGregor hasn’t fought or defended his title since winning it in 2016:

“Well they offered me Conor; Conor didn’t want to fight. So I wanna fight people that actually wanna sit there and fight, I’m not gonna beg somebody to go there and fight.

“This is the real belt; I’ve fought 10 fights. You guys all watched ’em. If not, you’re a casual. Go watch my fights, you’ll see exactly why I have this belt. I am the champ.”

“El Cucuy” stated that McGregor’s time was done and he was actually defending ‘his’ title to predictable boos from the many McGregor fans:

“Conor McNuggets is nothing, he’s lost his sauce. And this is defend or vacate. This is, right here, I’m defending my belt. My belt, I’m defending.”

Also at the press conference, UFC president Dana White didn’t say McGregor was stripped of the title but did provide a confusing bit of runaround by claiming Ferguson Vs. Nurmagomedov would be for the real lightweight title.

“I have no update. The winner of Khabib-Ferguson will be the champion.

“They’re going to fight for the real title. This is the real title. I said that Conor can’t hold up the title for two years.”

If what White says is true, the ‘real’ lightweight champion will be determined at UFC 223 in April, yet we’ve seen him say one thing and do the exact opposite or many more than one occasion. Ferguson won the interim belt after submitting Kevin Lee at UFC 216 while McGregor has remained MIA.

McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh has been doing his best to keep “The Notorious’” name in the mix; however, there has been no word or confirmation on McGregor’s next fight, or if he will fight again at all. McGregor notoriously made nearly $100 million in his boxing bout with Floyd Mayweather in August, and is financially set  for the foreseeable future.

Do you believe McGregor turned down a fight with Ferguson? If so, does he deserve to be stripped of the title?

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Tony Ferguson Reacts To Coach’s Latest McGregor ‘News’

The feud between lightweight champion Conor McGregor and interim lightweight champ Tony Ferguson rages onward after an incendiary tweet by McGregor’s head coach was met with equal aplomb by “El Cucuy.” Ferguson responded to John Kavanagh, McGregor’s head coach at Straight Blast Gym in Ireland, who mocked fans who adopted a “defend or vacate” take […]

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The feud between lightweight champion Conor McGregor and interim lightweight champ Tony Ferguson rages onward after an incendiary tweet by McGregor’s head coach was met with equal aplomb by “El Cucuy.”

Ferguson responded to John Kavanagh, McGregor’s head coach at Straight Blast Gym in Ireland, who mocked fans who adopted a “defend or vacate” take on “The Notorious”, who hasn’t defended the title once since winning it back in November 2016.

Kavanagh also recently came out with another McGregor non-story about how he was ‘pushing’ for ‘The Notorious’ to return to MMA instead of boxing (yawn).

Clearly Ferguson wasn’t gonna let that slide.

The lightweight division has been in flux ever since its’ champ took time off from MMA to pursue a boxing bout with Floyd Mayweather. Khabib Nurmagomedov had a stellar performance at UFC 219 last weekend, brutalizing the-always Edson Barboza for three grueling rounds.

Many lightweights have staked a claim for McGregor’s next fight, with Ferguson winning the interim strap after submitting Kevin Lee in McGregor’s absence.

Ferguson has been angling for a unification bout with McGregor for quite some time, but with the Irishman’s unpredictable nature, not much is known about the champion’s next move. Some reports have suggested another boxing bout, and others a return to the UFC. Just who will be the man to meet him is still very much in the air.

A few years ago, a sidelined champion would without question take on the interim champ after returning from their injury or absence. GSP fought Condit, Cormier fought Jones, Lesnar fought Carwin. The list goes on. But this is the McGregor era, and the champ-champ apparently does whatever he wants.

The more Ferguson goads McGregor the better, as the Irishman has a mercurial temper and is ego driven. If the interim champion can irk McGregor well enough, he might just get the fight.

Here’s to hoping for a McGregor vs. Ferguson lightweight title fight in 2018!

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Kevin Lee Reveals Conor McGregor’s Rumored UFC Return

Conor McGregor’s supposed MMA return remains one of the hottest topics in an MMA topic currently devoid of true pay-per-view-worthy stars. Although many fight fans have seemed to grow at least somewhat tired of ‘The Notorious” outside-the-cage antics as he holds the coveted UFC lightweight title hostage, there’s also little question that those same fans […]

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Conor McGregor’s supposed MMA return remains one of the hottest topics in an MMA topic currently devoid of true pay-per-view-worthy stars.

Although many fight fans have seemed to grow at least somewhat tired of ‘The Notorious” outside-the-cage antics as he holds the coveted UFC lightweight title hostage, there’s also little question that those same fans would tune in to watch the biggest name in the UFC fight no matter whom it was against.

He’s been rumored to face off with interim champion Tony Ferguson, who is currently on the sidelines after getting elbow surgery, and boxing legend Floyd Mayweather recently hinted at a UFC return – even though he ultimately shot it down – after beating McGregor in the boxing ring via 10th-round TKO this August.

With the MMA world awaiting any kind of news, recent interim title contender Kevin Lee revealed what he knew during a recent appearance on MMA Junkie Radio (quotes via MMA Mania), noting that he would most likely fight Ferguson but ‘something crazy’ could happen with Mayweather:

“Either that, or something crazy is going to happen there. But, at least I think everything that I’ve seen and all the little whispers that I’ve heard, he comes back, he fights Tony.”

If and when the anticipated title bout does go down, Lee doesn’t believe McGregor will be able to handle the experience of Ferguson after facing and losing to him at UFC 216. As for when “The Motown Phenom” said he’s heard the fight will happen this March:

“I don’t think he beats Tony. There ain’t no way. Tony’s going to be way too experienced, Tony’s going to be way too tough… He’s going to be too much for him. So I’m interested to see that fight. I wish they would just go ahead and make the damn fight happen already. I hear it’s supposed to go down in March, so we’ll see.”

There’s absolutely no doubt that a title unification bout between the two 155-pound champions would be one of the biggest fights the UFC could currently put on, and it would also go a long as to addressing McGregor’s lack of title defenses throughout his entire MMA career.

But McGregor has seemed to love the wealth of fighting rather than actually fighting since fighting Mayweather, so he may be wanting an even bigger potential payday than the Ferguson fight would provide, namely against Mayweather in MMA or perhaps Georges St-Pierre.

Either way, the UFC needs McGregor back, so the sooner, the better. Can they corral their unpredictable star back into the Octagon in early 2018?

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Coach: Conor McGregor Not “Obsessing” Over Mayweather Loss Like Diaz

Conor McGregor’s head coach John Kavanagh saw first hand how the UFC lightweight champion responds to losing. After the Diaz defeat at UFC 196, Kavanagh said McGregor obsessed over it until evening the score at UFC 202. Kavanagh discussed McGregor’s response after losing to boxing legend Floyd Mayweather to Express Sport (via Bloody Elbow) and […]

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Conor McGregor’s head coach John Kavanagh saw first hand how the UFC lightweight champion responds to losing. After the Diaz defeat at UFC 196, Kavanagh said McGregor obsessed over it until evening the score at UFC 202.

Kavanagh discussed McGregor’s response after losing to boxing legend Floyd Mayweather to Express Sport (via Bloody Elbow) and remarked how differently the champ has handled it.

“I think it’s different. After the Nate loss, it was an obsession.

“I don’t see that same level of interest in the Mayweather rematch. “Not that he would turn it down if it was offered. But certainly not in the same way that he was for the Diaz fight.”

There has been rumors ever since their August blockbuster encounter that Mayweather might offer McGregor a rematch, perhaps even in MMA. Just the other day Mayweather said he could sign a contract with the UFC whenever he wants.

However, all signs from McGregor himself point to a return to the Octagon. The lightweight champion has an interim champ in Tony Ferguson to fight, or perhaps a go at welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. Maybe even a trilogy with Diaz. With Conor, nothing is impossible.

McGregor posted an image of himself training in MMA on his Instagram yesterday, suggesting a strong possibility that his next fight will be in the UFC.

Solid rounds tonight at @sbgireland

A post shared by Conor McGregor Official (@thenotoriousmma) on

Who would you like to see McGregor fight next?

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Quote: UFC Needs To Make Conor McGregor Defend Or Vacate His Title

Fight fans are still waiting to see UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor defend his title belt. His arch rival is also waiting and has sounded off on the situation. That fighter is former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo, who is slated to challenge for the title once again when he steps inside the Octagon to […]

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Fight fans are still waiting to see UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor defend his title belt. His arch rival is also waiting and has sounded off on the situation.

That fighter is former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo, who is slated to challenge for the title once again when he steps inside the Octagon to fight Max Holloway in a rematch at next Saturday’s UFC 218 PPV (pay-per-view) event.

Tony Ferguson won the interim title at UFC 216 by scoring a submission win over Kevin Lee with a triangle choke in the third round. The reason for the interim bout was due to McGregor being unable to fight in the Octagon as he spent this year celebrating the birth of his child and pursuing a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather.

Keep in mind that the UFC lightweight champion has gone on record by stating that “legitimizing the title” is more important to him than money fights in the current state of his career.

UFC President Dana White has already confirmed that Ferguson would be McGregor’s next opponent.

Aldo believes it’s time for the UFC to make a decision about the future of the lightweight division. He stated to reporters during a media day in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil that the promotion needs to make the lightweight champion defend or vacate the title.

“Thank God my division is moving. It would be bad if it was stuck, but my division is moving,” Aldo said. “It’s hard, right? Every athlete dreams of becoming champion, fighting for the title, and the guy is holding up the division. But it’s up to the UFC to make the decisions.

“The UFC needs to do what has to be done: you take the belt away or make him defend it. I think everyone is waiting for that.”

Make no mistake about it, the chances of seeing McGregor fight this year is highly unlikely. Aldo believes that even if McGregor competes in a unification bout versus Ferguson next, there’s a chance he loses the UFC belt.

“Yes, this time is coming,” Aldo said (transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting), “He has to defend it, has to put his belt on the line in order to become champion. He only won the title. For me, Ferguson has great possibilities of becoming champion in the future.”

 

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