Tag: McGregor vs Diaz II

10 Biggest UFC Fight Cancellations In 2016

2016 has been a hugely successful year for the UFC in many respects, but while fans have been treated to some of the biggest fights and most stacked cards in the history of the sport, the age old problem of major fights falling through has continued to be a thorn in the promotion’s flesh. In

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2016 has been a hugely successful year for the UFC in many respects, but while fans have been treated to some of the biggest fights and most stacked cards in the history of the sport, the age old problem of major fights falling through has continued to be a thorn in the promotion’s flesh.

In this article we’ll take a look back at the 10 biggest fights to have fallen by the wayside in the past 12 months, and it’s a star-studded selection of mouth-watering match-ups that includes no less than five title-fights that slipped through the net.

In all, a remarkable eight of the 10 fights listed were actually scheduled to headline an event, and with some of them falling through on anything from a few days to a few weeks notice, it’s something of a minor miracle that, for the most part, the UFC has been able to roll with the punches and come out on top in the end.

That being said, the ramifications of some of these bouts being canceled has been massive at times, and in some cases has led to not only the fight being called off, but entire events being razed to the ground in one fell swoop, costing the UFC a fortune in the process and robbing fans of the chance to see their heroes in action at pivotal moments in their careers.

Werdum Velasquez II Poster

Fabricio Werdum vs. Cain Velasquez II

Fabricio Werdum delivered something of an upset at UFC 188 in Mexico City in 2015 when he submitted reigning heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez with a guillotine choke.

Velasquez had been uncharacteristically lethargic during the fight, with his camp later suggesting that he’d been caught out by the unusually high altitude in the city, which helped their push for an immediate rematch, with fans curious to see if ‘Sea-level Cain’ would fare any better against the Brazilian.

The second fight was booked to headline what was at the time known as UFC 196 on February 2nd in Las Vegas during Super Bowl weekend, but disaster struck when Velasquez was forced out with a back injury on less than two weeks notice.

Werdum then also withdrew from the show due to injuries of his own, leaving the UFC in a very awkward spot that eventually forced them to cancel UFC 196 as a pay-per-view event, instead putting the remaining fight cards on free TV as ‘UFC Fight Night 82.’

It’s a move that would that would cost them millions of dollars, and that’s before factoring in the costly and confusing process of having to renumber all their other forthcoming numbered PPV and ‘Fight Night’ events due to the cancelation.

Meanwhile, with Velaquez out of action for several months, Werdum would instead go on to fight Stipe Miocic at UFC 198 in May and promptly lost his title by way of a first round TKO stoppage.

Werdum vs. Velasquez II will now finally go ahead at UFC 207 on December 30th, though this time there won’t be a title on the line.

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Conor McGregor Has A Message For The UFC

He’s at it again. UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor has re-emerged from the social media shadows once more to give UFC brass a piece of his mind about the upcoming UFC 200 card, including the Cormier vs Jones II rematch scheduled to replace the Irishman’s original main event spot. As most already know, McGregor was originally scheduled

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He’s at it again. UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor has re-emerged from the social media shadows once more to give UFC brass a piece of his mind about the upcoming UFC 200 card, including the Cormier vs Jones II rematch scheduled to replace the Irishman’s original main event spot.

Nobody gives a fuck about these other fights until this one is settled. Cut the bullshit. Run it back. #RealFight

A video posted by Conor McGregor Official (@thenotoriousmma) on

As most already know, McGregor was originally scheduled to rematch Nate Diaz in the main event of UFC 200 after the Stockton native handed ‘Notorious’ his first UFC career loss back in early March.

McGregor, however, refused to attend a press event in Vegas claiming it would interfere with his training for the upcoming rematch. ‘Notorious’ and UFC President Dana White’s bumping of heads would lead to the removal of the Irishman from arguably the biggest card in the promotion’s history.

White would go on to fill the vacant main event slot with another high profile rematch, with UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier defending his title against former 205-pound king Jon Jones.

McGregor’s original opponent, Nate Diaz, has expressed that he refuses to fight anyone but the Irishman at UFC 200 or else he’s taking a vacation.

While McGregor has officially been pitted as being a non-possibility for July’s monstrous event, White has stated the Irishman is a possibility for UFC 201, 202, 203 etc.

Another interesting match scheduled for UFC 200 is an interim featherweight title bout between Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar. McGregor will more than likely take on the winner of that bout in his next scheduled Octagon appearance.

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Dana White: Conor McGregor Could Fight This Summer, But Not On UFC 200

The circus act that is Conor McGregor media week rolls onward. While attending “Dancing With The Stars” to support UFC strawweight Paige VanZant in Beverly Hills, UFC President Dana White spoke to TMZ Sports on the possibility of “Notorious” getting back on the UFC 200 card. “We’ll get it figured out”, said White. “He’ll fight

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The circus act that is Conor McGregor media week rolls onward. While attending “Dancing With The Stars” to support UFC strawweight Paige VanZant in Beverly Hills, UFC President Dana White spoke to TMZ Sports on the possibility of “Notorious” getting back on the UFC 200 card.

“We’ll get it figured out”, said White. “He’ll fight on 201, 202, 203 — whatever.” 

McGregor sent the world-wide MMA media into a buzz once again after tweeting out that he had been put back onto the promotion’s blockbuster July card.

McGregor thanked UFC President Dana White and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta for “getting this one done for the fans.” When asked why the Irishman would tweet such a thing, White seemed just as puzzled as anyone.

“I don’t know why he did. I still haven’t talked to him. We had a whole press conference about this. I just don’t know how more clear I can make it.”

UFC 200 was set to be headlined by the rematch between McGregor and Diaz after the Stockton native handed “Notorious” his first UFC loss back in early March.

McGregor, however, refused to attend a press event in Vegas to promote the event, claiming it would interfere with his preparation for the bout. White would then go on to remove McGregor from the card, stating the media obligations where not optional.

Following his removal from the event McGregor would send the fight world into a frenzy by contemplating retirement and then releasing an official statement via Facebook.

McGregor has yet to explain his most recent skeptical tweet, however it appears UFC brass is sticking to their guns and holding the Irish superstar off the historic summer card.

At least, for now.

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Conor McGregor’s Coach Thinks UFC Is Taking It Too Far

Appearing in an interview today (Mon., April 25, 2016) on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, SBG Ireland head-coach John Kavanagh commented on the craziness that has been going on this week with his longtime student, UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor. Kavanagh first commented on McGregor’s Monday morning tweet saying he was back on the UFC

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Appearing in an interview today (Mon., April 25, 2016) on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, SBG Ireland head-coach John Kavanagh commented on the craziness that has been going on this week with his longtime student, UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor.

Kavanagh first commented on McGregor’s Monday morning tweet saying he was back on the UFC 200 card:

“I do know that we left Iceland very early this morning”, Kavanagh said. “And we ended up getting separated and went different ways. I turned my phone on, I was with Gunny and Paddy Houlahan, and things started going crazy when I saw this message.

Now I didn’t know about this, and neither did his manager so it was news to both of us when we saw. I hadn’t been speaking to Conor since because I’ve had a bit of a day with Paddy”, he said. “I presume I’m gonna see Conor this afternoon in training and get the exact news.”

ConorMcBigMoneySign

Kavanagh also touched on how serious “The Notorious” was when he pondered the idea of early retirement:

“That was not a joke. I’ll tell you how I found out was I was coaching Gunnar in Iceland. He showed up late for the session,”  he said.

“I was telling him to hurry up and get on the mat we’re starting. He went, “Oh yeah, ‘I just retired.’ And I said, “Okay well, let’s just do the session and then we’ll talk about that”. So ya we trained for a couple of hours, we went outside I turned on my phone and I’d seen he’d actually put it out there. And ya he was content to leave it at that. That was not a joke”.

The SBG head coach also tried to make amends with the UFC himself by reaching out to UFC President Dana White:

“I did it on Wednesday, last Wednesday”, Kavanagh explained. “I just tried to put my case across, and sort of explain. We’re doing everything different for this fight. There’s a really new approach to what we’re doing. 

“I don’t really mind losses, I see it as a necessary step for success no matter what you do in life, but only if you learn from the loss. If you lose and you don’t see what went wrong and don’t make changes, well then you will continue to lose.

“Whereas we very much made a lot of changes and we were in a really great place. Some new members on the team, we were really hitting the ground running in Portugal and we were getting some great stuff done. I knew it would completely throw everything off.”

conor mcgregor PPV record UFCKavanagh also assured that McGregor is in good spirits following this week’s tumultuous media frenzy:

“He’s in a great place, we did two great weeks training. We did a week in Portugal, then we did a great week in Iceland and we were there as well obviously helping Gunnar, and he always gets a real buzz out of being in his company.

“He’s not against doing media”, Kavanagh explained. “It was just, at that particular time, that amount of travel, and losing momentum of what we were starting was just going to be detrimental physically and I believe psychologically as well.

Kavanagh was also disappointed to hear that Dana White is reluctant to put McGregor on the promotion’s first event at MSG in New York:

“That was hard to hear. I really think that’s going too far.”

“We get the slap on the wrist for 200, we definitely can’t be put on the naughty step for New York. As an Irish guy in New York and the first card at Madison Square Garden. I think conor will show up anyway and fight someone in the training room if they don’t put him on the card.”

Kavanagh believes that the UFC and McGregor could have worked out other possibilities for the press conference in this day and age of technology.

“The way the world is now, you don’t have to be physically at places to be involved in things. I don’t know what this obsession is with Vegas. UFC is a global sport, not a Vegas sport. I don’t see why everything has to be done there.

“Is there anyone in the MMA world that didn’t want to see that fight?” Kavanagh asked. “Was there the need to spend $10 million on that ad?

“This was Conor getting up at 7:45 a.m. — and I can’t tell you how unusual that is unless you know him the way I do,” Kavanagh said. … “He’d become this soldier. I basically said if it comes down to the press conference or the fight, we’ve gotta let that one go.”

ConorMcGregorSigningAutosIn the end, Kavanagh remains hopeful that the issues between “Notorious” and the UFC can be resolved before the July card.

“It seems to be swinging the right way and we’re aiming and we’re training for 200,” Kavanagh said. “We’re hoping for good news.”

“I don’t think we’ve gone past any point of no return,” he said. “There’s mutual respect from both parties. Dana and Lorenzo and those guys are sensible businessmen. This is just one of those things. I have no doubt that we’ll continue with the tradition for his next fight. Lorenzo will bring in his bottle of Midleton and we’ll do our usual toast and we’ll carry on.”

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Conor McGregor Makes Another Huge Announcement

According to “The Notorious One” himself, UFC brass has re-entered Conor McGregor back into the main event slot at UFC 200. McGregor tweeted the news early Monday morning: Happy to announce that I am BACK on UFC 200! Shout out to @danawhite and @lorenzofertitta on getting this one done for the fans. #Respect — Conor

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According to “The Notorious One” himself, UFC brass has re-entered Conor McGregor back into the main event slot at UFC 200. McGregor tweeted the news early Monday morning:

McGregor was initially removed from the card for refusing to attend the press conference that took place in Las Vegas this past Friday to promote the blockbuster event, claiming it would interfere with his training for the man who handed him his first UFC loss.

UFC President Dana White deemed this unacceptable and removed McGregor from the main event of the card, which was to be a rematch against Nate Diaz.

Diaz, who attended the press conference in Vegas Friday, said he had no interest in fighting anyone but McGregor at UFC 200 and would take a vacation otherwise. It seems that the original main event between Diaz and McGregor has been restored and we will see the two stars clash again afterall.

The UFC has yet to make an official announcement as to weather McGregor is in fact back on the card, however the Irishman is definitely confident that it is now a certainty.

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Source: DC vs Jones To Possibly Main Event UFC 200

After his dominating unanimous decision win over OSP Saturday night, Jon Jones was crowned the interim UFC light-heavyweight champion. According to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, UFC President Dana White has said that a Cormier vs Jones II bout could main event July’s phenomenal event: Dana White tells me if Jon Jones is healthy and Daniel Cormier

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After his dominating unanimous decision win over OSP Saturday night, Jon Jones was crowned the interim UFC light-heavyweight champion. According to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, UFC President Dana White has said that a Cormier vs Jones II bout could main event July’s phenomenal event:

Cormier was supposed to be Jones’ original opponent Saturday night, however an unfortunate injury suffered in training camp forced the champion to pull out of the anticipated rematch. Thus Ovince St. Preux stepped up to fight the returning Jones for the interim 205 pound strap.

Jones and Cormier’s bitter rivalry extends as far back as January of last year when the then champion Jones successfully retained his title against the undefeated olympian. Jones was then scheduled to defend his title against Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, however a hit and run incident resulting at the hands of Jones caused the UFC to suspend him indefinitely and strip him of the title.

Cormier would step in to fight “Rumble” for the vacant title, winning it in the third round via submission. Cormier would even go on to successfully defend his title against Alexander Gustafsson.

With the UFC’s original McGregor vs Diaz II main event falling through, the card is in desperate need of a huge main event. The dynamic rematch between two of the greatest light heavyweights of all time for the biggest prize in the sport is certainly a worthy main event.

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