Have you ever heard of a post-fight brawl leading to a sanctioned fight later on the same card? Well, thanks to the R3 Fighting Championship, you have now. Seriously, we can’t make this stuff up. R3 Fighting Championship, an amateur fighting promotion based in Moscow, recently streamed a 28-fight card. Midway through the event, a […]
Have you ever heard of a post-fight brawl leading to a sanctioned fight later on the same card? Well, thanks to the R3 Fighting Championship, you have now.
Seriously, we can’t make this stuff up. R3 Fighting Championship, an amateur fighting promotion based in Moscow, recently streamed a 28-fight card. Midway through the event, a massive brawl broke out, which included members from both fight corners and members of the audience. Thanks to Twitter user Grabaka_Hitman, footage of the brawl can be seen below.
Chaos at R3 Fighting Championship in Moscow. No idea what's going on, but these things happen in Russian MMA. pic.twitter.com/OKnUTa7Zho
Once R3 Fighting Championship regained control of the cage, the event continued. However, later in the card, the two instigators of the brawl, the gentleman in the black shirt and the gentleman in the blue shirt enter the cage, ready to fight. It appears that in between the card’s original fights, the promotion decided to add another fight to the card featuring the brawl instigators.
If this was happening in any other country I'd say it was fake but nope, these dudes are actually fighting right now. pic.twitter.com/u7Tu0yNyVw
As insane as it appears, this is real. Apparently, this is allowed in Russia as no one seems to be fazed at the turn of events. As we all know, no sanctioning body in the United States or the United Kingdom would permit this. Typically, in-cage brawls result in huge fines and lengthy suspensions, but that must not be the case in Russia.
The fight between the instigators was entertaining for the short time it lasted. Blue shirt instigator was able to secure a win via rear-naked choke in the first round.
If this is something that happens regularly in the East, no wonder members of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s camp thought it was ok to start a brawl after the former champ’s victory over Conor McGregor.
Do you think that Western promotions should allow members of fighter camps to engage in actual fights on the card to settle disputes?
By defeating Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, Conor McGregor blew the lid on the possibilities in mixed martial arts. Already a record-breaking force to be reckoned with, the Irish striker put an unquestionably dominant stamp on his New York title fight. Already holding the featherweight belt from the year previous, the infamous trash talking boxer smashed the
By defeating Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, Conor McGregor blew the lid on the possibilities in mixed martial arts. Already a record-breaking force to be reckoned with, the Irish striker put an unquestionably dominant stamp on his New York title fight. Already holding the featherweight belt from the year previous, the infamous trash talking boxer smashed the holiest of UFC achievements. Although he’s not yet defended a belt, McGregor carved a path for a number of massive fights in multiple weight classes.
Then came his big announcement after UFC 205, and it wasn’t retirement. To the contrary, ‘The Notorious’ said he wanted time off to care for Dee Devlin during her pregnancy, but aims to return and defend both belts. Conflicting reports would indicate the Irishman will in fact be stripped of the 145-pound belt. Should these turn out to be true, then surely the focus shifts to the lightweight division for McGregor’s immediate future.
Who’s a crazy wig and wants to fight Conor McGregor?
Khabib
When discussing potential contenders at 155 pounds, two stand out above the rest; Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson. Arguably it could go either way, but currently 24-0 and fresh off a demolition of Michael Johnson, ‘The Eagle’ believes he should be next in line. Talking with TMZ Sports, the dominant wrestler said he will toy with Conor McGregor for five rounds:
“I want to finish his hype. I don’t care about money, I have money, but now I want the belt. I want to talk in his ear, slap him and make him nervous. Then I want to let him stand up, ask him ‘Where is your boxing?’ then slap him more. I don’t want to finish him early, I’d rather fight for 25 minutes with him.”
Nurmagomedov then discussed the incident with McGregor after the UFC 205 weigh-ins. ‘The Notorious’ was filmed spitting insults at ‘The Eagle’ after the scales show, and Khabib says the Irishman should be careful:
“I’m Not Eddie Alvarez or Tyron Woodley”
“He watched me at weigh-ins, McGregor was looking at me all crazy. I asked him ‘what you want?’ I saw how he was with Tyron Woodley, but I’m not Tyron Woodley or Eddie Alvarez, I’m different. If somebody watch me like crazy, I can go crazy too. There was a lot of security coming, I watched his eyes, he was saying ‘what?’ but he did nothing. Of course (I was ready to go right there). I’m ready to go anytime, I had a lot of street fights, back when I was amateur I had many street fights. Now I’m a UFC fighter, I have to warn people to be careful, I don’t do it anymore. “
Setting another division ablaze in New York this past weekend, Conor McGregor etched his name in the history books against Eddie Alvarez. Becoming the first multi-division boss with his dominant knockout win, ‘The Notorious’ is now the simultaneous lightweight and featherweight king. Considering the magnitude of his UFC 205 win, it’s no surprise that a
Setting another division ablaze in New York this past weekend, Conor McGregor etched his name in the history books against Eddie Alvarez. Becoming the first multi-division boss with his dominant knockout win, ‘The Notorious’ is now the simultaneous lightweight and featherweight king. Considering the magnitude of his UFC 205 win, it’s no surprise that a myriad of potential fights lay ahead for the Irishman. Multiple divisions including both his championship weights and also talk of a welterweight title fight with Tyron Woodley have all been debated.
One fighter whose name came up instantly was Nate Diaz, the only man to beat McGregor in the UFC. Normally a lightweight, Diaz faced ‘The Notorious’ in a duo of welterweight tilts earlier this year. After he submitted McGregor in a wild affair at UFC 196, the Irish boxer repaid the favour with a thrilling yet arguably narrow decision win at UFC 202. Currently ranked as the number four lightweight in the UFC, a trilogy-making title fight would mean Diaz leapfrogging the likes of Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
McGregor vs. Diaz 3?
Speaking during this week’s episode of The MMA Hour, Conor McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh spoke about the biggest challenges in the lightweight division. Now his protégé is the boss at 155 pounds, Kavanagh reveals he believes Diaz to be the biggest threat, not Ferguson or Khabib:
“Nate, he’s such a good boxer. Like I said I do think, if I take away his circumstances, the Diaz 2 fight is my favorite fight. It’s the one I keep going back to, keep watching,” Kavanagh said. “Just technically, the 25 minutes in that, I learned so much in that. I thought it was a really, really nice fight. Two extremely skilled strikers.”
“I don’t think Nate gets nearly enough credit for how good he is and I think with his jiu-jitsu, incredible guard, incredible guillotines, incredible triangles, if the likes of Khabib or Tony was to shoot in on him because they would be getting lit up on the feet, I think he would finish them.”
99 Problems, But Not These Guys
Further explaining his opinion on the situation, Kavanagh points out the amount of strikes both ‘El Cucuy’ and ‘The Eagle’ absorbed in their bouts against Rafael dos Anjos and Michael Johnson, respectively. Diaz, renowned for his incredible durability, has the most ‘interesting’ set of problems for McGregor:
“A lot to learn in the preparation for them [Ferguson and Nurmagomedov] and both would be extremely interesting fights for me to watch, problems to solve and to see Conor beating both of them and how he did it would be very interesting for me.”
“[Nate] provides the most interesting set of problems. Like I said, Khabib, great fighter. I really enjoy his fights, enjoy watching from them and learning from them. I just thought in the opening two or three minutes of the Johnson fight we kind of saw what would happen if he was to face Conor. He got tagged quite a bit. I just think the sort of power and accuracy Conor brings, you know I’m sure Eddie had a great plan until 60 seconds in when he was scrambled and I don’t think it would go massively different if he was to face him [Khabib].”
Sitting atop two divisions after UFC 205 is Conor McGregor, the man everyone is talking about. Heading in to the UFC’s historic first event in New York, questions about stripping McGregor’s featherweight title were being raised. Frustrated fans and contenders from both 145 and 155 pounds questioned the reasons behind the Irishman’s lightweight title shot.
Sitting atop two divisions after UFC 205 is Conor McGregor, the man everyone is talking about. Heading in to the UFC’s historic first event in New York, questions about stripping McGregor’s featherweight title were being raised. Frustrated fans and contenders from both 145 and 155 pounds questioned the reasons behind the Irishman’s lightweight title shot. Providing his own record-breaking moment in the main event, McGregor crumbled Eddie Alvarez and took the belt.
The incredible win for ‘The Notorious’ opened doors to fights not only at feather and lightweight, but also with Tyron Woodley at welterweight. Again the point has been raised about stripping McGregor, but the Irish striker insists he’ll defend both belts. Also competing and winning in dominant fashion on the New York pay-per-view was Khabib Nurmagomedov. The undefeated lightweight prospect steamrolled Michael Johnson, making a clear statement about his placement in the title race.
Not Friends Anymore
Although they had been pictured together in this friendly snapshot at UFC 178, there’s now an obvious beef between ‘The Eagle’ and McGregor. During a video released before UFC 205, McGregor and Nurmagomedov could be seen getting heated before the weigh-ins. The dominant lightweight grappler had also voiced his displeasure with ‘The Notorious’ facing Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, and his post-fight speech was a clear challenge to the newly minted two-weight boss:
“I want to stay humble,’ Nurmagomedov said. ‘But I have to talk because the other guys talk too much. I understand the crazy power the UFC PR machine has. (McGregor), at the beginning of the year he tapped like a chicken but at the end of the year he is fighting for the title. Crazy. I want to fight your chicken. Let’s go. Let’s go with your chicken.”
McGregor, never one to stay quiet, responded during his bespoke UFC 205 post-fight presser:
Credit: MMAJunkie.com
McGregor’s Response
Talking after his emphatic win this weekend, Conor McGregor says he’s unsure of fighting someone like Khabib Nurmagomedov. Pointing out his recent history of pulling out of fights, ‘The Notorious’ says he wants an opponent who will ‘show up.’ As per MMAFighting.com:
“He’s fought once in eight years,” McGregor said. “He ain’t fight too frequent for my liking. For me to commit to something like that, I need to see solid proof that people are gonna show up and he’s a consistent pull-out merchant. He had a good performance tonight. Fair play to him. I need to see active, to see activity. I need to see consistency.”
If you want me to come and change your life, you want me to come pick you, you better have some damn reasons for me to do that. I feel good at all of them,” McGregor said. “I’m dominating them. I own the featherweight division. I’m dominating the 155 now. At 170? I have no problem going to 170. I’m sizing them up all week saying, ‘They’re not on my level, either.’”
Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger for USA TODAY Sports
Other Options
Facing Conor McGregor now are a number of interesting options. After Tony Ferguson defeated Rafael dos Anjos, ‘El Cucuy’ propelled himself to the top of the rankings at lightweight. Including ‘The Eagle,’ that’s two viable contenders at 155 pounds. Looking at featherweight, an obvious unification match with Jose Aldo beckons, or of course the beef with Woodley at 170, which the welterweight champ has said he’s happy to act on. Now that it looks like McGregor isn’t retiring, who should he fight next?
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