Having reviewed the now infamous footage released by Dana White last week, a professional ref states it was “maybe” worthy of a knockdown for Conor McGregor The debate still goes on. Did McGregor knock Paulie Malignaggi down in footage of their second sparring contest or were Malignaggi’s claims of a “pushdown” more credible? According to […]
Having reviewed the now infamous footage released by Dana White last week, a professional ref states it was “maybe” worthy of a knockdown for Conor McGregor The debate still goes on. Did McGregor knock Paulie Malignaggi down in footage of their second sparring contest or were Malignaggi’s claims of a “pushdown” more credible? According to […]
UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture is well experienced with the fight game and is also an MMA fighter who fought a boxer during his time. If you recall, he fought boxing great James Toney in Tony’s lone MMA appearance. With all of the drama that has gone on between Conor McGregor and Paulie Malignaggi […]
UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture is well experienced with the fight game and is also an MMA fighter who fought a boxer during his time. If you recall, he fought boxing great James Toney in Tony’s lone MMA appearance.
With all of the drama that has gone on between Conor McGregor and Paulie Malignaggi and their sparring video showing McGregor knocking down the former boxing champion, Couture is someone to ask about sparring sessions.
“I definitely see two guys sparring,” Couture said onThe Herd with Colin Cowherd(transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting). “[But] I’m kind of questioning why there’s an official referee in his uniform there. That’s not a usual thing for a sparring workout. . . [The job of a sparring partner] is to give you a look, to present what your opponent may bring to this fight and to try to mimic that as much as you can. You’re not there to fight, you’re not there prove you can beat this guy or you can compete with this guy. That’s not what it’s about. You’re volunteering or being paid to give this guy a look, give him rounds, give him solid work, and mimic the guy he’s fighting.”
It’s well known by now that Malignaggi ended up leaving the McGregor camp after photos of the sparring session leaked. UFC President Dana White released a highly edited video, which made McGregor appear much better than he is, according to Malignaggi. According to the UFC Hall of Famer, the McGregor sparring video seems more a promotional decision rather than something substantive or instructive.
“This reeks of a publicity stunt to me. Normally, you don’t have an official referee there, presiding over a sparring match. normally, you’d have two or three other partners there that would rotate in on rounds and give each other breaks because it’s tough being that guy. You know when you’re there you’re there to contribute, to help this guy find solutions to the problems his opponent is gonna bring.”
“I give Conor a one in ten chance of winning this fight. He’s unorthodox, he’s a southpaw, he’s not gonna throw things that Floyd’s used to seeing, he’s younger, and he’s a little bigger. Those are all positives for Conor but at the end of the day he’s still competing in a pure boxing match against one of the pound-for-pound best technical, best defensive fighters that we’ve seen in a long, long time.”
UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor might already have his second boxing bout already lined up. As a result of sparring photos released online, McGregor and Paulie Malignaggi have gone from being training partners to rivals. The former boxing champion has been going on rants about several issues that he had while sparring with McGregor to […]
UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor might already have his second boxing bout already lined up. As a result of sparring photos released online, McGregor and Paulie Malignaggi have gone from being training partners to rivals.
The former boxing champion has been going on rants about several issues that he had while sparring with McGregor to prepare him for his upcoming boxing match with boxing legend Floyd Mayweather including McGregor’s “mistreatment” of other sparring partners.
This has led to McGregor responding to Malignaggi’s claims by dismissing all of them as mere “concussion talk.” Despite trying to calm the storm, Malignaggi continues to go off on the UFC champion and believes that all of this will lead to a boxing showdown.
“When you don’t like somebody, you don’t spar them, you fight them,” Malignaggi said on Monday’s MMA Hour episode. “You either fight them, or you just never mentioned them at all.”
“This weirdo didn’t do either of those things. He constantly put me in the press with these edited videos, edited pictures, and whatnot. Now, it’s picked up a ton of momentum. So yeah. So now the bad blood is there. Now we’ve gotta fight.”
Malignaggi continues to demand that the 24-hour surveillance footage in the gym should be released instead of clips of his sparring sessions with McGregor being released online thanks to UFC president Dana White, who released them on Friday. Although Malignaggi did go on record by stating that McGregor got the better of him in some rounds, he feels he would be able to disprove that a knockdown happened.
“He’s got his left hand on my neck, and he’s throwing his little right hook inside, and I’m trying to pull up as hard as I can, in case he’s going to repeat the shot, in case he’s gonna do something else,” Malignaggi explained. “And he lets it go. So what happens? I go flying, and I fall.”
“It’s that same type of effect like when you’re playing tug-o-war as a kid, and you pull as hard as you can, and you let go, and the other person goes flying. It was that kind of effect at the instance of when I went to the canvas.”
The biggest fight of the year is set to go down on August 26th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The bout will air on pay-per-view and is expected to be the most lucrative prize fight of all time.
Paulie Malignaggi lashed out at the caliber of sparring partners used by Conor McGregor, saving some pretty harsh words for Artem Lobov As the war of words continues to escalate, it appears no one is safe from the wrath of the former two-time world champion. Artem Lobov, McGregor’s SBG Ireland training partner, and close friend […]
Paulie Malignaggi lashed out at the caliber of sparring partners used by Conor McGregor, saving some pretty harsh words for Artem Lobov As the war of words continues to escalate, it appears no one is safe from the wrath of the former two-time world champion. Artem Lobov, McGregor’s SBG Ireland training partner, and close friend […]
UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture believes that Conor McGregor and Dana White have been less than honest with the ‘Malignaggi situation’ Former two-time world champion boxer Paulie Malignaggi sensationally quit his role as a sparring partner in McGregor’s camp following leaked photos which were pushed with a narrative favoring “The Notorious”. Malignaggi had argued that […]
UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture believes that Conor McGregor and Dana White have been less than honest with the ‘Malignaggi situation’ Former two-time world champion boxer Paulie Malignaggi sensationally quit his role as a sparring partner in McGregor’s camp following leaked photos which were pushed with a narrative favoring “The Notorious”. Malignaggi had argued that […]
Ariel Helwani has always had pretty good access to the stars of MMA.
As one of the foremost journalistic presences in the sport, it’s no wonder Conor McGregor would handpick him to participate in his biggest moments—even in the face of Helwani be…
Ariel Helwani has always had pretty good access to the stars of MMA.
As one of the foremost journalistic presences in the sport, it’s no wonder Conor McGregor would handpick him to participate in his biggest moments—even in the face of Helwani being on the outs with the UFC since 2016.
Helwani has walked the streets of Dublin with McGregor before he was a superstar, spent an evening on stage with McGregor for a pay-per-view interview this January and sat on the edge of a McGregor Sports & Entertainment boxing ring discussing the definitive clip of Malignaggigate.
OK. Rethink the name maybe. But the point remains the same.
After considerable chirping back and forth between them, Paulie Malignaggi, a retired boxer and commentator for Showtime boxing, went to Las Vegas to do some sparring with McGregor, who is preparing for his August 26 bout against Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Drama ensued.
After only a couple of days, pictures emerged on social media of Malignaggi, winded and badly wearing it. Not long after, there was another of him on the canvas while McGregor stood proudly in the center of the ring.
Malignaggi, fiercely proud and not much of a McGregor fan to begin with, left the camp as quickly as he’d arrived and went on an all-out media blitz to dress down everything from McGregor’s punching power to his real estate choices.
He insisted that McGregor had pushed him and the whole thing was a conspiracy set up by McGregor’s people and the UFC. Video of the incident, which UFC President Dana White“leaked” on Friday, seemed to pretty convincingly show McGregor pawing at Malignaggi with a lead right hand then landing a left, putting the “Magic Man” on his behind in the process.
In any event, it was easily the most ink Malignaggi has gotten in years and even has people wondering if the whole thing might be a hustle to set up a legitimate fight with McGregor down the line.
And once again it’s Helwani with the access—in a clip released Saturday on the MMA Fighting Twitter account, he shows McGregor the video White leaked and gets his thoughts on the whole feud.
Check out the Malignaggi material in the tweet below:
Or watch the entire, 23-minute interview with McGregor below:
So what do you think? Punch or push? Have your say in the comments below!
Ariel Helwani has always had pretty good access to the stars of MMA.