Conor McGregor’s Coach John Kavanagh recently wrote a blog at 42.ie where he teased that McGregor’s next fight after UFC 197 will be against Frankie Edgar. The proposed fight would take place at UFC 200 in July. Here’s what Kavanagh had to say:
The elephant in the room in this situation, of course, has been Frankie Edgar. If Conor’s next fight was announced as being against Frankie, there would be a lot of complaints about him cutting too much weight and being too big for the rest of the 145lbs guys. People would also claim that he was running from Rafael dos Anjos. Instead, they’ll say he should be staying at featherweight and that he’s afraid of Frankie. But as I’ve said many times before, it’s great that questions are being asked because answering them is what sport is all about. The day there are no more questions being asked of you is the day you’re no longer relevant. No matter who Conor’s next opponent was going to be, people would complain. There’s no getting away from that. There are boxes to be ticked and, by the time Conor retires, he’ll have addressed them all. But they can’t all be done at the drop of a hat. We can only take it one at a time. Rafael dos Anjos is next. After that, maybe Frankie Edgar will get his chance at UFC 200 on 9 July. We’ll see.
McGregor will next be fighting against Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 197 in March.
Conor McGregor’s Coach John Kavanagh recently wrote a blog at 42.ie where he teased that McGregor’s next fight after UFC 197 will be against Frankie Edgar. The proposed fight would take place at UFC 200 in July. Here’s what Kavanagh had to say:
The elephant in the room in this situation, of course, has been Frankie Edgar. If Conor’s next fight was announced as being against Frankie, there would be a lot of complaints about him cutting too much weight and being too big for the rest of the 145lbs guys. People would also claim that he was running from Rafael dos Anjos. Instead, they’ll say he should be staying at featherweight and that he’s afraid of Frankie. But as I’ve said many times before, it’s great that questions are being asked because answering them is what sport is all about. The day there are no more questions being asked of you is the day you’re no longer relevant. No matter who Conor’s next opponent was going to be, people would complain. There’s no getting away from that. There are boxes to be ticked and, by the time Conor retires, he’ll have addressed them all. But they can’t all be done at the drop of a hat. We can only take it one at a time. Rafael dos Anjos is next. After that, maybe Frankie Edgar will get his chance at UFC 200 on 9 July. We’ll see.
McGregor will next be fighting against Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 197 in March.
With the news that UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor is officially moving up to lightweight to take on 155-pound champion Rafael dos Anjos in the main event of March’s blockbuster UFC 197 event from Las Vegas, it’s hardly a secret that the polarizing ‘Notorious’ has become the most discussed name in combat ports by a
With the news that UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor is officially moving up to lightweight to take on 155-pound champion Rafael dos Anjos in the main event of March’s blockbuster UFC 197 event from Las Vegas, it’s hardly a secret that the polarizing ‘Notorious’ has become the most discussed name in combat ports by a wide margin.
Taking over that role from former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey due to her devastating UFC 193 knockout loss to Holly Holm, McGregor has proclaimed that he ‘is the fight game,’ and based off of how the UFC has been willing to let him do essentially whatever he wants, it’s hard to argue with him there.
However, it allegedly wasn’t supposed to play out like that after UFC 194, as former featherweight champ Jose Aldo recently told Portal de Vale Tudo (via MMA Fighting) that there was an apparent agreement in place for the winner of their fight to move up to lightweight while the other fighter stayed put at featherweight to take on consensus No. 1 Frankie Edgar, a deal that McGregor supposedly reneged on. What’s more, Aldo was supposedly going to move up to lightweight as he’s long been rumored to do if he won:
“Right after the fight, Dana went to the locker room and told us our next fight would be against Frankie Edgar for the belt, because Conor would move up for the lightweight division since he couldn’t cut weight anymore.
“When we signed the contract, the intention was that the winner would fight at lightweight, but we would need to abandon the featherweight belt,” he said. “That was the plan, that’s what they told us. If we fought at lightweight, win or lose, and then had the opportunity to fight at featherweight again, it would be for the title immediately.”
It appears that the UFC’s plans were thrown a bit of a curveball by the massive drawing power of McGregor, who shocked the world by flooring Aldo in 13 seconds and ending his 10-year unbeaten reign. Aldo is clearly not headed for a rematch with McGregor just yet, but that’s understandably what he’s aiming for. The Brazilian veteran still thinks McGregor was lucky to knock him out and there wasn’t a fight. Aldo said that when they do finally throw down once again, he’s going to win. Find out what Aldo said about his jaw-dropping loss on the following page…
Frankie Edgar continues to vent about his inability to secure a shot at the UFC featherweight championship. Edgar has won his last five fights over the likes of Chad Mendes and Urijah Faber, and Joe Rogan has also called for the title shot, saying that Edgar vs. Conor McGregor would be “bananas.”
Edgar says the UFC knows he would be a tough opponent for McGregor, and for that reason he “f*cking doubts” he’ll ever get the fight. Here’s what he had to say:
“I was deflated man. I just fought one of the best fights of my life [and I’m thinking] I shouldn’t be feeling like this,” Edgar told MMA Fighting. “I should be going home riding high right now, and I just wasn’t. I don’t think it matters with Dana [White] and Lorenzo [Fertitta]. Really, I don’t think I’m the best fight that they want…I don’t think they want it either. So I’ve got all three of them against me. I mean, all fights are hard. But, yeah, I think I’m the worst match-up for McGregor. I think he knows it, I think you know it, I think the UFC knows it. I just need that chance to get my hands on him. That’s what I want. Am I going to get it? I f*cking doubt it.”
Edgar told The LA Times that he isn’t sure if he’ll continue waiting for a fight against McGregor, or if he’ll take other fights in the meantime to earn income:
“I honestly don’t really know what I’m going to do yet,” Edgar told The LA Times. “I’ve got to weigh some things out. Do I want to wait for Conor — could something happen? Someone get injured? Do I want to wait for that fight or fight and make some money? That’s what I’m weighing right now.”
“But for the last three years, I’ve been trying to situate all my fights to lead toward a title and it seems like it’s not really working for me,” he said. “I’ve missed out on fighting more often, making some money and that’s something … I don’t want to be sitting here until June or July expecting to fight Conor and then something else happens like it has in the past, and then I’m left with another scenario of no-fight, no-money. That’s something I have to consider.”
Frankie Edgar continues to vent about his inability to secure a shot at the UFC featherweight championship. Edgar has won his last five fights over the likes of Chad Mendes and Urijah Faber, and Joe Rogan has also called for the title shot, saying that Edgar vs. Conor McGregor would be “bananas.”
Edgar says the UFC knows he would be a tough opponent for McGregor, and for that reason he “f*cking doubts” he’ll ever get the fight. Here’s what he had to say:
“I was deflated man. I just fought one of the best fights of my life [and I’m thinking] I shouldn’t be feeling like this,” Edgar told MMA Fighting. “I should be going home riding high right now, and I just wasn’t. I don’t think it matters with Dana [White] and Lorenzo [Fertitta]. Really, I don’t think I’m the best fight that they want…I don’t think they want it either. So I’ve got all three of them against me. I mean, all fights are hard. But, yeah, I think I’m the worst match-up for McGregor. I think he knows it, I think you know it, I think the UFC knows it. I just need that chance to get my hands on him. That’s what I want. Am I going to get it? I f*cking doubt it.”
Edgar told The LA Times that he isn’t sure if he’ll continue waiting for a fight against McGregor, or if he’ll take other fights in the meantime to earn income:
“I honestly don’t really know what I’m going to do yet,” Edgar told The LA Times. “I’ve got to weigh some things out. Do I want to wait for Conor — could something happen? Someone get injured? Do I want to wait for that fight or fight and make some money? That’s what I’m weighing right now.”
“But for the last three years, I’ve been trying to situate all my fights to lead toward a title and it seems like it’s not really working for me,” he said. “I’ve missed out on fighting more often, making some money and that’s something … I don’t want to be sitting here until June or July expecting to fight Conor and then something else happens like it has in the past, and then I’m left with another scenario of no-fight, no-money. That’s something I have to consider.”
But then, things started to sort themselves out on Wednesday’s edition of when Dana White told the UFC Tonight gang that “If anyone can hold two belts, it’s Conor McGregor.” With that ringing endorsement now out there in the universe, it was pretty much a given that McGregor would challenge lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos next, which recent reports now indicate will be the case.
But then, things started to sort themselves out on Wednesday’s edition of when Dana White told the UFC Tonight gang that “If anyone can hold two belts, it’s Conor McGregor.” With that ringing endorsement now out there in the universe, it was pretty much a given that McGregor would challenge lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos next, which recent reports now indicate will be the case.
Details after the jump.
As first reported by Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter (citing multiple sources), McGregor will in fact be moving up to lightweight next to take on Dos Anjos in the main event of UFC 197 on March 5th in Las Vegas.
And not only that, but Botter also confirmed that Holly Holmwill be getting her wish to fight once more before rematching Ronda Rousey, squaring off against former title challenger Miesha Tate in UFC 197′s co-main event. Which, wow. It’s getting harder and harder to be a cynical, biased, UFC h8ing MMA blog these days when looking at the absolutely amazing run they’ve been on lately. (Luckily, there’s still their Nazi-esque outfitting policy to take shots at or we’d probably have to close up shop.)
It’s worth mentioning that Ariel Helwani hinted at “a couple of big fights” being looked at for March 5th back in December, only to be immediately shut down by Dana White for being “full of shit.” Here’s hoping that he has the balls to hit Dana with a zinger like this the next time they’re face-to-face.
(Wanderlei Silva: Professional in the streets, freak in the sheets.)
If there’s two things that Wanderlei Silva has become known for in his post-fighting career, it’s posting creepy, borderline unintelligible videos to his social networks and threatening to slap the sh*t out of people. And while the man has arguably raised some good points about the state of fighter pay, it’s growing harder and harder to take him seriously when those points are threateningly delivered in a dimly-lit room while heavy metal and/or techno blasts in the background.
So a credit is due to Silva for stripping away some of the more distracting elements in his most recent effort, wherein he calls for an immediate rematch between Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo and threatens to slap the “Notorious” one should they ever meet face to face.
(Wanderlei Silva: Professional in the streets, freak in the sheets.)
If there’s two things that Wanderlei Silva has become known for in his post-fighting career, it’s posting creepy, borderline unintelligible videos to his social networks and threatening to slap the sh*t out of people. And while the man has arguably raised some good points about the state of fighter pay, it’s growing harder and harder to take him seriously when those points are threateningly delivered in a dimly-lit room while heavy metal and/or techno blasts in the background.
So a credit is due to Silva for stripping away some of the more distracting elements in his most recent effort, wherein he calls for an immediate rematch between Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo and threatens to slap the “Notorious” one should they ever meet face to face.
The video was posted to Silva’s Facebook page the day after UFC 194, but the entire thing is in Goldbergian Japanese (aka Portuguese), so check out a full translation below via MMAFighting.
I’m here to support one of the greatest champions, our greatest champion, Jose Aldo. You continue to be our great champion. Wanderlei Silva continues to be your fan. I like you, I know what you can do, and I know you know that too. That has happened to be too, I’ve been through a moment like this you’re going through now.
And this promotion, if they don’t give (Aldo) the immediate rematch, we will criticize them. How? Everybody saw it was an accident, this a–hole was lucky. And when I meet this guy, for everything he said about Jesus, I will slap this motherf–ker in the face. You can’t do that. You can’t play with our God. When I meet you, raise your hand because you’re getting slapped in the face, you punk.
I’ll tell you this: it hurts. It hurts. A warrior feels this pain with the loss. I know you will walk through this and show you still are the best fighter in the world. Don’t listen to the critics. I want to ask Brazilians to support our champion. Hold back the jokes. If you have any garbage inside your heart, don’t throw it outside. Keep it to yourself. Don’t criticize our champion. Our champion needs support.
He represents us for a long time. A guy that lived in a gym, had nothing, and became the best fighter in the world, deserves out respect to say the least. Aldo, I’m with you. You’re our champion, and that won’t change anything.
Our major takeaway from this video: No Brazilian has or ever will lose a fight fair and square; extenuating circumstances are almost always to blame. Jose Aldo didn’t simply overcommit and walk right into the power hand of Conor McGregor (like McGregor predicted he would), he had an “accident.” As a matter of fact, we guarantee that if you slow down the footage of his final moments as champion, you’ll see him slipping on a piece of ice placed by in the octagon by that goddamn Dana White.
We kid, but as much as it would arguably make sense for Aldo to receive an immediate rematch — Cain Velasquez and Ronda Rousey are getting just that, and their losses were far less “flukey” than Aldo’s — it would be even harder to see the UFC selling McGregor/Aldo 2 to casual audiences, given the time it took for the first fight to actually come to fruition and the payoff (or lack thereof) it resulted in. As great as a champion as Aldo was, it’s just not a likely scenario that he’ll receive an immediate rematch against a guy with an extremely limited window left at 145 lbs anyways (which opens a whole other can of worms).
Still though, you have to love how the impetus for this whole video seemed to be McGregor’s assertion that he’d “whoop Jesus’ ass” in the octagon, as if he was speaking from the heart and considering it as his next matchup. We can only hope that Wanderlei has never seen Dogma, or else Kevin Smith will have one unholy ass-kicking coming his way.
Our advice to McGregor, though, should Wanderlei attempt to make good on his promise? GO FOR THE DOUBLE LEG!
Back in 2008, a fresh faced (well, maybe “fresh faced” is a little disingenuous) Conor McGregorwas quoted as saying that he would be the future champion of the UFC’s lightweight division — “I’m the fucking future” was how he summed it up, I believe. Over the next four years, McGregor would put together a string of vicious performances that seemed to align with that belief, becoming CWFC’s first two-division champion in the process.
It was on April 6th, 2013 that McGregor was first tested on the world’s premier mixed martial arts stage, and to say that he passed with flying colors would be a bit of an understatement. McGregor tore through Marcus Brimage like tissue paper, starching the TUF 13 alum in just over a minute and collecting a well-earned 60 G’s (babayy!!) in bonus money to boot.
McGregor’s naysayers used a lot of words to describe his subsequent rise to fame — “protected,” “unearned,” and “all talk” among them — but time after time when it came to fight night, there McGregor would be, his hand raised, a thoroughly bewildered and semi-unconscious opponent beside him. He talked the talk, he walked the walk, and on Saturday, Conor McGregor fulfilled the prophecy that he and he alone created in devastating fashion.
Back in 2008, a fresh faced (well, maybe “fresh faced” is a little disingenuous) Conor McGregorwas quoted as saying that he would be the future champion of the UFC’s lightweight division — “I’m the fucking future” was how he summed it up, I believe. Over the next four years, McGregor would put together a string of vicious performances that seemed to align with that belief, becoming CWFC’s first two-division champion in the process.
It was on April 6th, 2013 that McGregor was first tested on the world’s premier mixed martial arts stage, and to say that he passed with flying colors would be a bit of an understatement. McGregor tore through Marcus Brimage like tissue paper, starching the TUF 13 alum in just over a minute and collecting a well-earned 60 G’s (babayy!!) in bonus money to boot.
McGregor’s naysayers used a lot of words to describe his subsequent rise to fame — “protected,” “unearned,” and “all talk” among them — but time after time when it came to fight night, there McGregor would be, his hand raised, a thoroughly bewildered and semi-unconscious opponent beside him. He talked the talk, he walked the walk, and on Saturday, Conor McGregor fulfilled the prophecy that he and he alone created in devastating fashion.
Much has been made about McGregor’s, let’s call them “linguistic skills” over the years, but arguably more impressive than the Irishman’s gift for gab has been his foresight. He said he would knock out Dustin Poirier in a round, and he did. He said he that Chad Mendes would crumble, and he did. Perhaps most insane of all, he said that Jose Aldo — the pound for pound king and only featherweight champion in the UFC’s history — would “overreact, overextend, and then be KO’d unconscious.” And he did.
In the blink of an eye at UFC 194, all doubt about “Mystic Mac’s” abilities were erased via an emphatic knockout of Aldo that was eerily reminiscent of one from early in his career. It was Aldo’s first defeat in ten years, and it happened in just over 10 seconds. It was a moment that’s still indescribable, even when looking back at the road it took to get there.
Speaking of prophecies, Luke Rockhold seemed to know something we all didn’t heading into his UFC 194 co-main event with Chris Weidman. The middleweight title challenger oozed confidence in the build-up to the fight despite being paired against the man best known for defeating one of the sport’s greatest fighters twice, and his confidence was evident from the very first punch thrown.
We all knew Rockhold’s size would be a factor, but the extent to which he was able to wear down Weidman with body kicks and clinch work was a sight to behold. Even the final sequence of the fight, where Rockhold secured a takedown on the two-time Division 1 wrestler that would lead to the fight-ending onslaught of ground-and-pound (which seemed to last for no less than 90 minutes), was a testament to how well-rounded the former Strikeforce champion has become, and just how dominant he will be moving forward…barring any steroid-fueled spinning head kicks.
And Rockhold will need to bring every bit of confidence to the cage should he face Yoel Romero, who secured a split decision over fellow top contender Jacare Souza just one fight earlier at UFC194, next. Despite Romero’s penchant for stretching the rules and slowing down over the course of three round affairs, his momentary flashes of brilliance (I’m referring to that nasty spinning backfist he landed in the first round, of course) still paint him as a dangerous potential challenge to anyone at 185 . But Romero’s controversial win, coupled with Rockhold’s upset, doesn’t exactly make the middleweight title picture any clearer — in fact, we might have to see Weidman vs. Romero to determine who gets a shot at the new champ next.
In any case, a whole lot of possibilities have just opened up in two of the UFC’s most steady divisions, and that’s always an exciting prospect for those of us who choose to embrace the chaos that the sport oft dwells in.
Main Card
Conor McGregor def. Jose Aldo via first-round KO
Luke Rockhold def. Chris Weidman via fourth-round TKO
Yoel Romero def. Jacare Souza via split decision
Demian Maia def. Gunnar Nelson via unanimous decision
Max Holloway def. Jeremy Stephens via UD
Undercard
Urijah Faber def. Frankie Saenz via unanimous decision
Tecia Torres def. Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger via UD
Warlley Alves def. Colby Covington via submission (guillotine choke)
Leonardo Santos def. Kevin Lee via first-round TKO (3:26)
Magomed Mustafaev def. Joe Proctor via TKO (strikes) at 1:54 of R1
Yancy Medeiros def. John Makdessi via split decision
Court McGee def. Marcio Alexandre Jr. via UD
