UFC President Dana White has given a little more insight into what the UFC will do with the lightweight title leading into UFC 223. White and the promotion has hinted but not come out officially with confirmation that UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor would be stripped of the title. He noted in a recent interview […]
UFC President Dana White has given a little more insight into what the UFC will do with the lightweight title leading into UFC 223.
White and the promotion has hinted but not come out officially with confirmation that UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor would be stripped of the title.
He noted in a recent interview that it would happen before UFC 223, which is important to note as a big fight will take place at the upcoming pay-per-view event.
The winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov – interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson at UFC 223 will be the actual lightweight champion.
McGregor will be stripped of the title before the event and these two fighters will battle it out to see who will be crowned the new champion.
UFC 223 is set to take place on Saturday, April 7, 2018, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will air on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.
White made it official in an interview with the Los Angeles Timeson Friday.
”That’s exactly right: As soon as one punch is thrown, it’s on for the full title, and it’s only fair. They’ve both worked their way up to No. 1 and No. 2. They deserve a shot,” White said.
”This is good news for the fans. I always hear about, ‘What will you do if this guy leaves …’ This is a sport first. People leave, they’ve made money and moved on. It happens.”
McGregor has not been seen in the Octagon since at UFC 205 when he won the lightweight title from Eddie Alvarez. McGregor then fought in a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather.
The UFC President made it known that he is hoping that McGregor will fight the winner of this upcoming fight.
”Conor does want the belt, he does want to be the champion, but he doesn’t want to defend it. I’d love to see him fight the winner of Ferguson-Khabib next.”
Surrounding the massive UFC 205 event is an air of change, some say for better, and others for worse. Once again Conor McGregor is at the front of this hot debate. Facing Eddie Alvarez in his attempt at the Philadelphia slugger’s lightweight belt, ‘The Notorious’ is causing all kinds of havoc. Yet to defend the
Surrounding the massive UFC 205 event is an air of change, some say for better, and others for worse. Once again Conor McGregor is at the front of this hot debate. Facing Eddie Alvarez in his attempt at the Philadelphia slugger’s lightweight belt, ‘The Notorious’ is causing all kinds of havoc. Yet to defend the featherweight title, and receiving a shot at the belt in his first 155-pound belt, McGregor has stirred up the argument of money over rankings all over again. When it comes to the decision-making behind the UFC 205 main event, few can deny it is unabashed.
Alvarez vs. McGregor was fiercely contested by the contenders of the lightweight division, none more so than Khabib Nurmagomedov. Undefeated in his career at 23-0 (7-0 UFC), ‘The Eagle’ protested vehemently against McGregor’s title shot. Eventually finding himself matched against Michael Johnson on the UFC 205 prelims, Nurmagomedov made it clear it was title shot or bust if he beats Johnson. Although he won’t get a crack at the belt on November 12, Khabib reportedly made a huge dent in Alvarez’s, but for mare so McGregor’s pay for UFC 205.
Eagle Leverage
According to a report on Match TV, via Bloody Elbow, Nurmagomedov signing two contracts to fight Alvarez was simply a ploy by the UFC to lower both men’s salaries for the event. Khabib’s father says the promotion used the fear of fighting his son as leverage to lower the payout required on November 12:
“By sending a contract to Khabib, the UFC has reduced the overall cost of UFC 205 by $4 million dollars. According to rumors, McGregor wanted to fight for six or seven million, and Alvarez for one million. At this point, Khabib was sent two contracts and he signed them. Alvarez with McGregor then calmed down because nobody wanted to fight Khabib. As a result, Alvarez will earn $500,000 and McGregor around $3.5 million. There are some bonuses, but the fact is that they have halved the fees. That’s for sure. Khabib was offered $100,000 compensation for the cancelled fight. He refused, and said: ‘Give me the opportunity to fight the best.’ On the same evening, he was offered a fight with Michael Johnson for the same fee.”
Kick In The Teeth
If true, this means the prospect of fighting Nurmagomedov lowered Alvarez from $1 million to $500K, and McGregor from $7 million (approx) to $4 million. The brash Irishman mocked Alvarez for not renegotiating his contract before UFC 205, but ‘he Silent Assassin’ claimed it was too easy a fight to pass up on.
One day, perhaps soon, someone is going to have to give Khabib Nurmagomedova title shot. When that finally happens, will the undefeated Sambo master rag-doll his way to title glory?
This is just getting silly… UFC on FOX 19 is taking an absolute beating at the moment, and it’s going right to the wire. First off it was the injury bug that saw Tony Ferguson removed from his bout with Khabib Nurmagomev, although ‘The Eagle’ remained on the card with new player Darrell Horcher stepping
UFC on FOX 19 is taking an absolute beating at the moment, and it’s going right to the wire. First off it was the injury bug that saw Tony Ferguson removed from his bout with Khabib Nurmagomev, although ‘The Eagle’ remained on the card with new player Darrell Horcher stepping in. Then Lyoto Machida popped under the new USADA (United States Anti Doping Agency) testing for a masking agent, although he had admitted to taking the substance and not knowing it was on the banned list before failing the test.
So that meant Machida’s rematch with Dan Henderson was cancelled, and ‘Hendo’ removed from the card all together, with the card heavily rearranged. Glover Teixeira and Rashad Evans were promoted to the main event, Rose Namajunas and Tecia Torres were bumped up to co-main, but the UFC on FOX 19 card is not in the clear just yet
Training partner of Khabib Nurmagomedov at the American Kickboxing Academy, Islam Makhachev has failed a drug test and been forced off the UFC on FOX 19 card in Tamp, Florida. He was set to face Drew Dober in a lightweight contest, but the circumstances behind his failed drug test are not black and white. Check out the initial report details by BloodyElbow.com:
Meldonium is a heart medication developed in Latvia primarily used for improving bloodflow in patients with ischemia or heart issues like angina and similar issues. It is not currently scheduled or available in the USA. It has been commonly used by athletes as a supplement in eastern Europe and Russia for several years. It was placed on the in and out of competition prohibited list by WADA on Jan 1st 2016 after previously being on the WADA watchlist in 2015. It was still legal under WADA/USADA guidelines as recently as December 31st 2015.
WADA released a statement this week addressing the issue of excretion times:
“In the case of meldonium, there is currently a lack of clear scientific information on excretion times. For this reason, a hearing panel might justifiable find (unless there is specific evidence to the contrary) that an athlete who has established on the balance of probabilities that he or she ingested meldonium before 1 January 2016 could not reasonably have known or suspected that meldonium would still be present in his or her body on or after 1 January 2016. In these circumstances, WADA considers that there may be grounds for no fault or negligence on the part of the athlete.”
Where stricter drug testing has improved the overall image of the sport and helped make it more of a level playing field, it seems there are still a few peculiar circumstances that need addressing.
Here’s the UFC on FOX 19’s woefully injured card as of now:
Event: UFC on FOX 19: “Teixeira vs. Evans” Date: Sat., April 16, 2016, on FOX Location: Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay, Florida
UFC on FOX 19 Main Event:
205 lbs.: Glover Teixeira vs. Rashad Evans
UFC on FOX 19 Main Card (8 p.m. ET):
115 lbs.: Rose Namajunas vs. Tecia Torres 160 lbs.: Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Darrell Horcher 145 lbs.: Cub Swanson vs. Hacran Dias
UFC on FOX 19 “Prelims” (6 p.m. ET):
155 lbs.: Michael Chiesa vs. Beneil Dariush 135 lbs.: Bethe Correia vs. Raquel Pennington 170 lbs.: Court McGee vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio 155 lbs.: Drew Dober vs. Islam Makhachev
UFC on FOX 19 “Prelims” on UFC Fight Pass (4 p.m. ET):
135 lbs.: John Dodson vs. Manny Gamburyan 170 lbs.: Randy Brown vs. Michael Graves 185 lbs.: Cezar Ferreira vs. Oluwale Bamgbose 170 lbs.: Omari Akhmedov vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos
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