It’s currently unknown if Conor McGregor will ever return to the UFC to finally defend one of his titles, and based on his recent outside-the-cage-troubles and obsession with boxing, it may stay that way. Nearly every aging name in the sweet science has called out for a boxing match with “The Notorious” since his tenth-round […]
It’s currently unknown if Conor McGregor will ever return to the UFC to finally defend one of his titles, and based on his recent outside-the-cage-troubles and obsession with boxing, it may stay that way.
Nearly every aging name in the sweet science has called out for a boxing match with “The Notorious” since his tenth-round TKO loss to Floyd Mayweather on August 26, a fight where the Irishman made an alleged $100 million, and that includes Mayweather’s former rival Manny Pacquiao. The decorated Filipino great recently teased that he wants to square off with McGregor, but not many gave it much credit.
But Pacquiao insisted it could indeed become reality today, telling reporters that he had opened talks with McGregor’s team as reported to news wire service AFP (via Yahoo!):
“If we can negotiate it, I have no problem. It is OK with both of us.”
Photo by Mark J. Rebilas for USA TODAY Sports
Asked if he and his team had been getting into specific details on when such a mega fight would happen, Pacquiao said that the sides had made an initial meeting but it had not progressed any further:
“Initially, but we have not yet had any follow-up conversations,” Pacquiao said.
So some opening talks have been had, but the fight appears to be far from a certainty as of right now. Pacquiao also stressed that the fight would have to come during his recess as a member of the Philippine Senate and that he could face a number of potential opponents in Malaysia, Dubai, or Macau:
“It depends who they can finalise as my opponent by April.”
McGregor has one boxing match, a stoppage loss to one of the best all-time, while Pacquiao is a decorated former champion of an alarming eight divisions who also had his own rivalry and battle with Mayweather, losing an uninspired decision to “Money” in boxing’s so-called ‘Fight of the Century’ in May 2015.
‘The Notorious’ has been making headlines for anything from outbursts such as his Bellator 187 scene where he shoved referee Marc Goddard and slapped a security guard to galavanting about town with singer Rita Ora, but next to nothing is known about when he’ll return to the Octagon or if he ever will. With a payday like the one he made for facing Mayweather, there is a legitimate chance he never does.
And while another boxing match with an aging legend who’s out of his prime may seem like a ridiculous prospect given he’s yet to defend a UFC title, there’s little doubt the fight would be a massive pay-per-view success based on the rumored numbers Mayweather vs. McGregor garnered.
Are you in any way interested in seeing McGregor face off with ‘Pacman?’
Last night, former UFC middleweight and welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre vacated the 185-pound belt he had just won by submitting Michael Bisping just over a month ago at November 4’s UFC 217. It wasn’t really a shocking move considering St-Pierre had revealed his intentions to no longer fight at the weight class as he recovers […]
Last night, former UFC middleweight and welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre vacated the 185-pound belt he had just won by submitting Michael Bisping just over a month ago at November 4’s UFC 217.
It wasn’t really a shocking move considering St-Pierre had revealed his intentions to no longer fight at the weight class as he recovers from a fight with ulcerative colitis that was reportedly due to the diet required for him to bulk up and take on Bisping in his first-ever – and possibly only – fight at 185 pounds.
St-Pierre looked great in his return from almost four years off after he vacated the 170-pound belt in late 2013 as he submitted Bisping in the third round after dropping him with a power left hook, but if you paid attention to his words even directly after he won his second title, a lengthy foray at middleweight against the best in the world was never really in the cards for the French-Canadian superstar.
So thus ended St-Pierre’s short-lived reign at middleweight, if you even want to call it that. With it over, St-Pierre’s tenures at 170 and 185 are an odd juxtaposition the likes of which we rarely see in even a sport as wild and unpredictable as mixed martial arts. At welterweight, he ruled the division twice, with his second reign spanning nine straight defenses where he dominated the best in the world but failed to score a finish throughout the second half of his career there. At middleweight, he came back with seemingly more power and drive after refreshing his mind and desire to compete and score an epic finish in a bout many picked him to lose, yet there was something still missing from the entire ordeal, something different.
And in a way, the thing that was missing was an overall indication of the current state of the UFC. The absence of true meritocracy in the UFC right now rang true more than ever when Bisping held out to face ‘Rush’ in a fight that was on-again, off-again since the beginning of 2017.
Noah K. Murray for USA TODAY Sports
St-Pierre perhaps saw an opportunity to win a belt at a higher weight class because Bisping was an easy win for him after the two had trained together years ago and St-Pierre got the upper hand, and if he did, he proved that theory right at Madison Square Garden. The fact that he was even able to return to an immediate title shot in a weight class he had never fought in after almost four years off and a somewhat messy exit speaks volumes about how the company is willing to do any and everything to secure a potentially huge pay-per-view payday right now.
‘Rush’ took advantage of that, so fair play to him. He got a huge prize fight, and even though he insisted his contract stipulated he had to defend the title against interim champion Robert Whittaker, he waffled on that match from the second he strapped the middleweight title around his waist and discussed his victory with Joe Rogan.
That’s not to say St-Pierre was ducking the fight. The disease he’s dealing with is a serious condition, and if he was putting his body in danger just to bulk up and fight at middleweight, then he most certainly made the right decision in vacating the title and focusing on his health.
In another way, he also showed mercy to the crowded division in doing so, letting it move on and progress in an era when other champions like Conor McGregor hold up classes with no clear plans to defend in plain sight. Whittaker can now take on Luke Rockhold in the main event of UFC 221 from Australia and the division can go forward without the uncertainty and chaos Bisping lent it during his controversial 17-month reign. However, he also made it seem obvious that he saw an opportunity to cash in versus a man he knew he could beat, a man who was perhaps a fluke champion, and with no intentions of defending the title won in doing so.
So it’s somewhat insulting to the UFC, and Dana White is likely to be ‘super-pissed’ St-Pierre isn’t defending the middleweight strap. He also can’t be surprised.
Photo: Joe Camporeale for USA TODAY Sports
An all-time great no matter if you agreeing with his latest move or not, St-Pierre saw a window open to win a huge but questionable fight in an era where those seem to be popping up regularly. It was a huge departure from when he shocked fans by announcing he would be taking some time off to recharge his burnt-out mind and body in the moments following his incredibly controversial split decision win over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 in November 2013.
The UFC’s consummate professional promptly took almost four years off after that; there’s no telling how long he may take to return this time if he ever does. Despite the criticism he may be garnering in many circles today, he got paid and won a UFC title a weight class up. Most fighters will never come close to laying claim to anything resembling that sentence. Ultimately it was a savvy business move in a time when spectacle fights seem to have priority above all others.
But this entire scenario has taught us two things: St-Pierre is a master magician when it comes to the fight game, and he pulled his second great escape on the UFC again last night.
Georges St-Pierre recently revealed he would most likely not defend his newly-acquired middleweight title after the diet required to move up a weight class led to him contracting colitis following his impressive third-round submission of former champion Michael Bisping at November 4’s UFC 217. While St-Pierre’s Octagon return is uncertain, Bisping’s was not, however, as […]
Georges St-Pierre recently revealed he would most likely not defend his newly-acquired middleweight title after the diet required to move up a weight class led to him contracting colitis following his impressive third-round submission of former champion Michael Bisping at November 4’s UFC 217.
While St-Pierre’s Octagon return is uncertain, Bisping’s was not, however, as “The Count” made an incredibly fast and controversial turnaround to face Kelvin Gastelum in the main event of November 25’s UFC Shanghai after original headliner Anderson Silva was forced out with his second failed drug test. The British star was promptly knocked out with a brutal strike in the first round, prompting legitimate questions as to whether or not Bisping should have been fighting so soon after “GSP” had choked him unconscious.
St-Pierre recently weighed in on the questionable decision by Bisping to TSN (via MMA Fighting), noting that it was far from the right choice medically but that he still understood why Bisping took such a big risk to get back in the win column right away:
“Medically, that was not the right thing to do. However, if he would have succeeded – you know, he took a big risk and me, I can accept that because he took a big risk – if he would have succeeded he would have been like a hero. It’s like, ‘Oh my God, he just lose the title and then he come back with no preparation, boom, wins a fight.’ I think he tried to do something that was very, very risky, but at the same time if he would have achieved it, it would have been a big reward for him. So I can respect that. For him, I can respect the idea that he had, the goal that he had doing it.”
Noah K. Murray for USA TODAY Sports
Much of the criticism surrounding the decision to let Bisping fight obviously rests on the UFC, as it was a somewhat surprising decision to clear the longtime veteran just three weeks after he had absorbed so much damage from a reinvented St-Pierre. With athlete safety, especially in terms of head injuries, becoming a more and more discussed concern in mixed martial arts, St-Pierre said he believed it was a bad decision for the UFC to let Bisping fight:
“However, I believe for the UFC, that was not good to let an athlete fight after getting concussed in a fight for the world title and then getting choked out. I don’t think it was medically a good thing for the UFC. But for Michael, as a fighter, I understand his point of view. He wanted to turn around the table and he wanted to do something that was special and I can understand that because coming back after four years myself, it was a lot of risk, and I wanted to do something special and I succeeded, I’m happy I did it. Unfortunately for Michael, it failed. But I can respect that from a man.”
Many fighters – especially UFC champions like Bisping regarded as the toughest in all of MMA – would want nothing more than to prove they were still at the pinnacle of the sport by avenging a loss if presented with the chance, so in that regard, it’s the UFC’s job to protect them from themselves in a sense when their health is on the line.
But they had no reserves about clearing Bisping to fight a young, up-and-coming knockout artist only three weeks after he brutally dropped, pounded, and eventually choked out in order to save the main event of a Fight Pass-aired card that was on at 7 a.m. EST in the United States. Some of that blame has to be directed at Bisping’s team and those who advise him, but ultimately he was going to try to prove he could still hang with the best when the chance arose.
From that point of view, the UFC may have been better served off thinking about their longtime star’s health, especially as he was prepared to head off into an expected retirement after one final fight in London this March. Now, that’s looking like it’s way too soon to fight again after two stoppage losses, and it also seems like the UFC will ut their bottom line above any and everything else, even if the event isn’t that big.
What is your opinion of the UFC’s decision to let Bisping fight again so soon?
Conor McGregor’s next UFC remains unknown as the Irish MMA megastar continues to make headlines for outside-of-the-cage troubles such as his referee-shoving incident at Bellator 187, his rumored bar fight with members of an Irish cartel, and his night out with singer Rita Ora. Yet to defend either of his UFC titles, ‘The Notorious’ was last seen losing […]
Conor McGregor’s next UFC remains unknown as the Irish MMA megastar continues to make headlines for outside-of-the-cage troubles such as his referee-shoving incident at Bellator 187, his rumored bar fight with members of an Irish cartel, and his night out with singer Rita Ora.
Yet to defend either of his UFC titles, ‘The Notorious’ was last seen losing by 10th-round TKO to Floyd Mayweather in quite possibly the most overblown combat sports spectacle in history. With most UFC fans clamoring for him to finally unify the 155-pound championship with interim champ Tony Ferguson, McGregor is apparently still focused on ‘Money,’ however.
He recently opened up to BBC (via MMA Weekly) about the technical adjustments Mayweather made during the fight, labeling the legendary pugilist a genius in the ring:
“It is what it is. I got beat. He’s a tactical genius in there. He changed his game plan three times, that’s the sign of a true champion. First, Philly shell, second rope-a-dope, third when both of those was getting picked at, he went Mexican style, hands up, knuckles above the eyebrows, dipped in low an just walked forward. It’s like an ugly boxing style.
“But he was able to change that game plan three times. It’s the sign of a true champion. He got the win, fair play to him.”
But the Irishman’s compliments didn’t go any further than that, as McGregor seemed to pine for a rematch (while insisting he wouldn’t call out a retired fighter) by offering the boast he could make a ‘simple’ adjustment himself and top ‘Money’ in a rematch:
“If it happened in a rematch, it’s a simple adjustment of me having a heavier sparring partner coming in, in the later rounds, and lean on me and walk me down. Where as in my sparring in the lead up to the camp, we were always against fast, twitchy, light on their toes opponent with a Philly shell style and their backs against the ropes. Never against forward pressure because he’s never fought like that so it took us by surprise and I got beat.
“If I had a rematch, I would correct that and I would beat him. He’s retired. I’m not going to start calling him out of retirement. I’m going to leave him to it. If it happens, maybe it will, who knows — I would beat him no doubt.”
‘The Notorious’ MMA champ doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to get back into the Octagon anytime soon, but he has a rumored $100 million reasons to already be asking for a boxing rematch with the elusive, undefeated Mayweather.
The out-of-control champion didn’t offer the legendary champion much resistance in the squared circle, however, and with only one professional boxing match on his record – a loss – it’s hard to believe anything would be different even if he faced the aging great again.
With Mayweather recently talking some trash about McGregor by saying he ‘carried’ him through the fight, a rematch might not be as far off a possibility as we may have thought. For UFC fans’ sakes, let’s hope it is.
UFC lightweight Conor McGregor continues to make headlines for seemingly everything but actually defending his titles. Last night, the MMA superstar appeared at the British Fashion Awards with British singer Rita Ora, who tweeted that she was on a ‘date night’ with ‘The Notorious,’ who obviously has a longtime girlfriend and newborn son at home. […]
UFC lightweight Conor McGregor continues to make headlines for seemingly everything but actually defending his titles.
Last night, the MMA superstar appeared at the British Fashion Awards with British singer Rita Ora, who tweeted that she was on a ‘date night’ with ‘The Notorious,’ who obviously has a longtime girlfriend and newborn son at home.
Check out the singer’s sultry get-up alongside a slick purple suit from McGregor, who’s been known to have arguably the keenest fashion sense in MMA:
It may not be the best look for the Irish knockout specialist, yet appearing at a fashion awards show is still a far cry from his alleged bar fight with Irish mob members in Dublin after he set the fight community ablaze by jumping into the catch at Bellator 187 to shove referee Marc Goddard and smack a security staff member.
Not surprisingly, Twitter took to taking McGregor to task for his ‘date’ with the famous songstress, blasting him with a variety of accusatory tweets.
Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold hasn’t done anything close to mincing words about his opinion of the current state of the UFC under new owners Endeavor (formerly WME-IMG). He’s been especially critical of the company’s handling of the title picture in his 185-pound division. After he was shockingly upset by Michael Bisping at UFC […]
Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold hasn’t done anything close to mincing words about his opinion of the current state of the UFC under new owners Endeavor (formerly WME-IMG).
He’s been especially critical of the company’s handling of the title picture in his 185-pound division. After he was shockingly upset by Michael Bisping at UFC 199 in June 2016, the promotion let “The Count” make his only title defense against retiring then No. 14-ranked Dan Henderson before taking more than a year off waiting to fight former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, who had never fought at 185 pounds in his lengthy career.
‘GSP’ won the title from Bisping with a strong performance at November 4’s UFC 217, but then seemed to waffle on his previous promise that he would unify the titles with interim champion Robert Whittaker in his subsequent bout. Now he’s on the sidelines dealing with colitis and could be out for an undetermined amount of time.
Rockhold has long been a vocal opponent of St-Pierre’s foray into his division, and now he’s ramping up his criticism. Speaking to Ariel Helwani on today’s episode of The MMA Hour, Rockhold said he believes it time for St-Pierre to admit he doesn’t want to fight at 185 pounds in order to let the stagnating weight class move on:
“The fact is, come out and say that you don’t want to fight here in the division and relinquish the title and move on. Stop just, I’m tired of story after story and him dragging us on and you know, leaving us in the dark. Just state what it is. If you’re sick, you’re sick, but the fact is that you don’t want to fight in the division. I mean, he’s done his thing; he’s a legend, whatever. Just move on.
“Let us move on. Let’s fight. I’m ready to fight if it makes sense. I’m not just gonna fight fights to fight, to get nowhere.”
As for his own next move, Rockhold, who just got back into the win column against former WSOF two-division champ David Branch in September following a year and three months off, said he’s gunning for only one bout – a title shot against the man whom he believes to be the real middleweight champion in Whittaker. Anything else, he said, just isn’t worth his time:
“There’s been talks all along the way about potential this, potential that. They gotta make backup plans. They’re trying to make fights like Yoel Romero right now. Why would I fight Yoel Romero when there’s no clear-cut person fighting Whittaker? Obviously I want to fight for the title, and if that’s available, I’m not gonna sign any fuckin’ fight. I wanna fight for the title, and if that’s available, that’s what I’m gonna do.”
With offers of a so-called number one contender fight being pushed his way, Rockhold scoffed at those flimsy prospects by legitimately questioning what such a bout was worth when St-Pierre didn’t even need to win one himself after never fighting in the division his whole career.
The former champ framed his disgruntled attitude with the UFC by focusing on the recent reports that they had offered Nate Diaz a welterweight title shot, which he believed to be absolutely ludicrous given that many top fighters had spent their lives preparing to actually deserve it.
Overall, the state of the UFC is making him mad, and he believes they need to formulate a realistic way to grant title shots by moving back to what made the UFC and MMA as a whole great in the first place:
“And don’t try to make me fight fights, when you’re telling me, what’s a number one contender fight these days? Did Georges St-Pierre fight a number one contender fight? I don’t think so. So there’s no point in fighting guys when there’s no structure, there’s no rhyme or reason to who gets a title shot. And Nate Diaz is my boy, but the fact that they were even negotiating Nate Diaz for a welterweight title shot, it’s disrespectful to everybody in the division. These guys work their asses off to get where they are, and the sport is fuckin’ pissing me off. It’s losing its integrity and it needs to get back to its roots.”
Finally, Rockhold summed his thoughts up about the UFC with one strong statement that the new owners have put their focus completely into the wrong place:
“I can’t understand what their thought process is these days. They obviously don’t know have a clear understanding of what they’re doing. They’re not following the recipe that built this company. I don’t know, man. Invest in the fighters. No offense, but your investment is into Dana White. Dana White’s not selling pay-per-views. Invest in the fighters and they’ll solve your problems. You’ll hit your marks. You’ll sell your pay-per-views, and do your thing. But, get it straight.”
