UFC 206 Countdown: Holloway vs Pettis

UFC 206 is set to go down next weekend (Saturday December 10, 2016) from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and will be main evented by a massive interim featherweight title bout between No. 2-ranked Max Holloway and No. 5-ranked Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis. Holloway (16-3) is coming off of a unanimous decision win

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UFC 206 is set to go down next weekend (Saturday December 10, 2016) from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and will be main evented by a massive interim featherweight title bout between No. 2-ranked Max Holloway and No. 5-ranked Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis.

Holloway (16-3) is coming off of a unanimous decision win over Ricardo Lamas in their UFC 199 meeting back in June, marking the ninth consecutive UFC victory for the 25-year-old mixed martial artist (MMA).

Pettis (19-5) comes off of a successful 145-pound debut over Charles Oliveira in August, as the former lightweight champion is looking to grab his second UFC strap in his fighting career. ‘Showtime’ would become the fourth fighter in UFC history to have held two titles in different weight classes in promotion history.

You can check out the UFC’s full UFC 206 Countdown: Holloway vs. Pettis special here:

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Conor McGregor Responds To UFC: I Ain’t Stripped

The sport of MMA has been awaiting a response from Conor McGregor following the UFC’s decision to strip him of his featherweight title and promote Jose Aldo to full-time champ, making next weekend’s UFC 206 main event between Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis now for Aldo’s briefly-held interim belt. ‘The Notorious’ made UFC history when he

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The sport of MMA has been awaiting a response from Conor McGregor following the UFC’s decision to strip him of his featherweight title and promote Jose Aldo to full-time champ, making next weekend’s UFC 206 main event between Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis now for Aldo’s briefly-held interim belt.

‘The Notorious’ made UFC history when he knocked out Eddie Alvarez in the main event of November 12’s UFC 205 to become the first-ever concurrent two-weight champion, so the decision to quickly take away his featherweight gold was harshly criticized by many. There were also a decent number of supporters for the decision, as the Irish dual-champ had not defended the belt since he won it from Aldo last December.

McGregor and his team had largely stayed silent despite getting a boxing license in California amid reports from Dana White that it was ‘Conor’s decision to relinquish his title,’ but not surprisingly, McGregor shared quite an opposite view during a recent interview at Belfast’s The Devenish Bar (via Snowden MMA):

“I also have something going on with the UFC, they’re trying to strip me and I was like, ‘Well, I ain’t stripped. I still got that belt, that belt is still at home right now’,” McGregor said. “I’m still the two-way world champion, someone has to come take that from me. I see articles, I see stuff online, but I don’t see the belt not in my presence. The belt is right there, there’s two world titles at my home.

“Eddie [Alvarez] is still unconscious, what do you mean? I only fought last week. Them belts are mine. Whatever they want to say, and they can say, ‘Oh we took the belt and now it’s this guy’s belt,’ you can play with those fake belts all you want. Jose was KO’ed, Eddie was KO’ed, you’re looking at the two-weight world champion and that’s it. I’ll say to the UFC, and I love their company, you’re fooling nobody, you’re fooling nobody with that.”

Following arguably the biggest year in MMA history where he put on four record-breaking fights in less than 12 calendar months, it’s difficult to argue with ‘The Notorious” results in the Octagon and at the box office. With that monstrous bit of leverage fully entrenched by his side, McGregor reaffirmed his previous statement that his bosses would have to come and take his belts from him, as talking about it would mean nothing:

“But best of luck to them, I still got them belts. Someone’s got to come take those belts from me, physically. Not online, not through a keyboard. The keyboard warriors trying to take them belts away from me, [but] you got to take them belts off me physically if you want to come get them.”

– quotes transcribed by MMAFighting.com

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UFC 206 Free Fight: Max Holloway Vs. Ricardo Lamas

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEm46lMV5lc[/embed]

Next month at UFC 206, Max Holloway will put his nine-fight win streak on the line against Anthony Pettis for the interim UFC featherweight title.

But “Blessed” only reached this point …

Max Holloway

Next month at UFC 206, Max Holloway will put his nine-fight win streak on the line against Anthony Pettis for the interim UFC featherweight title.

But “Blessed” only reached this point with a win at UFC 199 over Ricardo Lamas.

Holloway and Pettis meet on December 10 from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

Cole Miller Trashes UFC After Recent Fight Was Cancelled

UFC featherweight Cole Miller is not happy with the way the promotion has been treating him as of late, and that’s putting it lightly compared to what ‘Magrinho’ had to say. Recently Miller spoke to Sherdog, courtesy of MMA Mania, to discuss his current situation with the UFC after having his UFC Fight Night 97

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UFC featherweight Cole Miller is not happy with the way the promotion has been treating him as of late, and that’s putting it lightly compared to what ‘Magrinho’ had to say.

Recently Miller spoke to Sherdog, courtesy of MMA Mania, to discuss his current situation with the UFC after having his UFC Fight Night 97 match-up with Mizuto Hirota was cancelled due to one half of the main event, BJ Penn, pulling out on short notice due to injury. All the commotion surrounding the event makes Miller want to consider another line of work:

“It’s crap. I had a full training camp for nine weeks. I was away from my family. I was on the way to the airport. That’s when the hurricanes were going on down here, so I called ahead myself, transferred my flight to Atlanta instead of here in Fort Lauderdale to make sure I made my flight and wouldn’t miss my flight. I drove all night, got into Georgia at four in the morning, woke up at eight in the morning, was on my way to he airport and I got the text saying that the whole event was canceled. That sucks. I got less than a third of my show money. So, nine weeks away from my family and I profited around $500. So that worked out pretty good for me.

“Instead of getting re-booked two weeks later, I get re-booked two months later. So now I have to do a second training camp to get paid for one. So that’s what it feels like. I’m here and I don’t even want to be here right now. It doesn’t want to make me fight harder for my family, it makes me want to fight less. It makes me want to quit and go get a job at Starbucks or something. I was ready to start taking out contenders, thinking I have 10 or 12 more fights in me, ready to fight until I’m 36 years old. Now, I don’t even want to do it. I don’t want to do this training camp, I don’t even want to do this session, straight up.

“I don’t want to be here. Right now, I’m just like anybody else who’s going to work on Monday, they don’t want to and just punch the clock. This is the last fight on my contract, so, to renegotiate a new contract, there is a lot of work…you know, I don’t even think they want me fighting for them. That’s just by the way I feel like I’ve been treated. That’s not how you take care of your people. They will probably let me go even if I win. Which is, whatever. I requested a meeting not too long ago to go in and meet them (new owners) in person and I was denied. They wouldn’t even see me. That’s just the icing on top of it. So, don’t care.”

Cole Miller.Miller is currently on a two fight losing skid with a third match-up being ruled a No Contest after suffering an unintentional eye poke from Jim Alers in their clash at UFC on FOX 17 last year. With one fight remaining on his UFC contract, and all the bad blood between Miller and the UFC, it could very well be only a matter of time before we see the former Ultimate Fighter contestant on his way out of the organization.

Your thoughts?

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Jose Aldo: Conor McGregor Was ‘Never Champion’

The MMA universe is still pondering the UFC’s curious decision to change the main event of UFC 206 into an interim featherweight title bout between Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis, but newly re-branded official champion Jose Aldo isn’t among those surprised Conor McGregor was stripped of the title. After he won the interim title versus Frankie

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The MMA universe is still pondering the UFC’s curious decision to change the main event of UFC 206 into an interim featherweight title bout between Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis, but newly re-branded official champion Jose Aldo isn’t among those surprised Conor McGregor was stripped of the title.

After he won the interim title versus Frankie Edgar at July 9’s UFC 200, Aldo was given the belt that only he had boasted until McGregor knocked him out in a shocking 13 seconds at last year’s UFC 194 following a nearly yearlong build-up of epic circumstances. He campaigned for a rematch, yet the promotion decided to book McGregor against then-lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos and then Nate Diaz twice when ‘RDA’ broke his foot.

McGregor then went on to face and defeat Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight title at UFC 205, a fight that made Aldo threaten to leave the promotion for good. Now that’s he the champion (although many would argue with the decision), Aldo spoke up to say he knew this would happen because his loss was a fluke and McGregor was ‘never champion’ (via UFC.com):

“I knew this would happen,” Aldo said. “To me, I have always been the champion. I lost that fight because of a (fluke).

“I know I could win in a rematch. I knew I would be champion again. It’s not my fault that (McGregor) is a coward, that he was never champion. I don’t see myself losing to anyone in this weight class, or any other.”

Aldo now plans on defending his official title against the winner of Holloway vs. Pettis, and as for whom he’d rather fight, ‘Junior’ said an elusive bout with former lightweight champion ‘Showtime’ would obviously be the bigger fight:

“I don’t care — I’ll be prepared to face whoever wins,” Aldo said of the Pettis-Holloway battle. “Of course, Pettis has a bigger name; he was champion once, and it would be a bigger fight. But if Holloway wins. it’s fine.

“I’m going to win anyway.”

Strong words from arguably the greatest featherweight in the history of the UFC, but fans may be beginning to wonder where the Aldo of old is, as the champion hasn’t been able to show up to the Octagon all that often in recent years.

And when he does, he’s even admitted to coasting to decisions, relying on his superior talent rather than letting it all hang out with his formerly furious goal of finishing each and every fighter he met. This new, more brash version of Aldo is certainly drawing more headlines, but at some point he’ll have to put forth a dominant win for fans to truly accept him as champion – right or wrong.

Do you believe he should be given his respect as the true champion, or was he just dealt the benefit of some odd circumstances?

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Max Holloway “Blessed” To Fight Anthony Pettis For UFC Gold

Aug 23, 2014; Tulsa, OK, USA; Max Holloway (red gloves) fights Clay Collard (blue gloves) in a Featherweight Bout, Holloway after victory at BOK Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDbSE8fdE98[/embed]

Max Holloway doesn’t care that an interim tag is attached to his UFC 206 main event bout with Anthony Pettis.

The proud Hawaiian is just happy to be competing for UFC gold – something he has been dreaming about for years.

“I’m just blessed to have the opportunity to be here,” Holloway told MMAjunkie. “I always wanted to fight for a title, and I always wanted to be the main event of a pay-per-view. I can knock two off the list come Dec. 10, and I think the world is in for a treat.

“I thought I was going to get Pettis as the main event and move to five rounds. I didn’t think it was going to get elevated to a title shot. But the featherweight division was in murky waters, and now it’s super clear. I’ve been telling everybody this is God’s plan, not mine, and God’s plan is perfect. We’re here now, and it’s all about taking opportunities. This is an opportunity I need to take, and it’s the first step toward greatness.”

Holloway (16-3) has won 12 of his 15 Octagon bouts, including each of his last nine since a 2013 decision loss to Conor McGregor.

After McGregor won the UFC lightweight title, UFC officials removed his featherweight belt and gave it to Jose Aldo. That allowed them to create the interim title match next month between Holloway and Pettis, a former UFC lightweight champion himself.

Aug 23, 2014; Tulsa, OK, USA; Max Holloway (red gloves) fights Clay Collard (blue gloves) in a Featherweight Bout, Holloway after victory at BOK Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Max Holloway doesn’t care that an interim tag is attached to his UFC 206 main event bout with Anthony Pettis.

The proud Hawaiian is just happy to be competing for UFC gold – something he has been dreaming about for years.

“I’m just blessed to have the opportunity to be here,” Holloway told MMAjunkie. “I always wanted to fight for a title, and I always wanted to be the main event of a pay-per-view. I can knock two off the list come Dec. 10, and I think the world is in for a treat.

“I thought I was going to get Pettis as the main event and move to five rounds. I didn’t think it was going to get elevated to a title shot. But the featherweight division was in murky waters, and now it’s super clear. I’ve been telling everybody this is God’s plan, not mine, and God’s plan is perfect. We’re here now, and it’s all about taking opportunities. This is an opportunity I need to take, and it’s the first step toward greatness.”

Holloway (16-3) has won 12 of his 15 Octagon bouts, including each of his last nine since a 2013 decision loss to Conor McGregor.

After McGregor won the UFC lightweight title, UFC officials removed his featherweight belt and gave it to Jose Aldo. That allowed them to create the interim title match next month between Holloway and Pettis, a former UFC lightweight champion himself.