Tag: Paulie Malignaggi

The past couple of weeks have seen a feud like few others develop between UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor and former boxing champion Paulie Malignaggi to the point where it’s completely dominated nearly all MMA headlines just weeks before “The Notorious’” anticipated boxing super fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr on August 26.

The story goes that Malignaggi, who had a bit of pre-installed beef with McGregor already, went to the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas to spar with McGregor and help him prepare to box Mayweather, a champion whom many feels is the best of all-time, in his first pro boxing bout. Malignaggi painted a picture where he was treated extremely unfavorably by McGregor’s camp, telling any and all media outlets that would listen the Irish UFC champion was extremely cheap and disrespectful to a sparring partner who was trying to help him.

But the straw that broke the camel’s back was when photos surfaced online of Malignaggi supposedly getting dropped by the much less experienced MMA star. Malignaggi left McGregor’s camp shortly after the photos were released and went on his whirlwind media tour to defend his name, demanding that full footage of the sparring session be released while insisting he ‘beat the brakes off’ McGregor.

Malignaggi claimed McGregor ‘whimpered’ when he was hit with his body shots and that the knockdown was merely a push, but late last night, UFC President Dana White released some footage of the sparring session on his official Instagram account showing that while Malignaggi did appear to be off balance and perhaps even falling, he was also nailed by an uppercut from McGregor that at least appeared to help him fall down. Check it out:

Here is the video everyone wanted to see of Conor vs Paulie Malignaggi former IBF and WBA World Champion @thenotoriousmma

A post shared by Dana White (@danawhite) on Aug 11, 2017 at 8:46pm PDT

White also released a video containing more footage of McGregor tagging Malignaggi while stating it was ‘for the people who think McGregor can’t box’:

For all the people who think @thenotoriousmma can’t box. This is gonna be a FIGHT!!!! For those that don’t know this is Conor vs Paulie Malignaggi former IBF and WBA World Champion.

A post shared by Dana White (@danawhite) on Aug 11, 2017 at 8:43pm PDT

It’s no surprise to see White jump to his star fighter’s aid and defend him, as he clearly has a job to do in promoting a fight that has been billed as the biggest combat sports of all-time but seems to be losing steam with tickets still available at outlandish prices and the overall heat cooling a bit after mixed reviews and some controversial moments during their circus-like world tour from a few weeks back.

The Malignaggi scene has seemed to take over any and all discussion about the fight, and while this would seem to clear it up in at least some way, discussions are going to be raging over whether or not McGregor truly dropped the veteran boxer based on the video. What do you think? Was Malignaggi just falling, or did the Irish superstar legitimately catch him with a strike that dropped him?

The post Dana White Reveals Conor McGregor vs. Paulie Malignaggi Sparring Footage appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

With only two-and-half weeks remaining until the ultra-hyped boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor, the onus of promoting the bout seems to have curiously fallen on ranting former boxing champion Paulie Malignaggi, whose sparring drama with ‘The Notorious’ has ruled any and all talk about the fight lately.

The scene has created a far cry from last month’s world tour, where both stars earned mixed reviews for their promotional hype throughout an exhausting four-city, three-country whirlwind. The most groan-worthy moments undoubtedly centered on McGregor’s supposed racism when he told Mayweather to ‘dance for me, boy,’ before denying any accusations of racism as he claimed to be ‘black from the bellybutton down’ before humping the air for his ‘beautiful black female fans.’

According to a report from MMA Fighting, however, it was actually a moment that occurred backstage during an interview for Jimmy Kimmel Live in Toronto where McGregor was faced with a question about Rocky 3, to which he asked, ‘Is that the one with the dancing monkeys in the gym?’ It’s uncertain just what he meant, but the general opinion was that he was referring to a scene where Rocky Balboa trains at an all-black gym. The clip has since been taken offline.

It’s a bad look for McGregor to be certain, and although he doesn’t seem to care much about that perception, Mayweather is clearly growing tired of it. His previously voiced concerns became more prevalent during an interview with Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s SportsCenter last night, where he described his disapproval of McGregor’s questionable interview:

“I just didn’t like when he called us monkeys,” Mayweather said. “I think that was totally disrespect. … He called us monkeys. I didn’t like it. It didn’t push a button to make me jump out of my character and go crazy, but I didn’t like it.”

Mayweather then hearkened back to African American pioneers like Malcolm X, giving respect to what they’ve accomplished but also acknowledging the racism that still exists. With that established, “Money” said he was a patient man, and McGregor’s day would come on August 26:

“I just thought about all our different leaders. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X. They went on the front line for me and my family and all my loved ones. Like I said before, this stuff still goes on. But I’m strong, I’m smart, patient. And come Aug. 26, I’ll be the same person — smart, strong, patient. And the same way he called us monkeys, we’re gonna see if he say that Aug. 26.”

And in closing, Mayweather devoted his performance to all black people in the world:

“No different,” Mayweather said. “But this is for a cause. This is for the American people. This is for all the blacks around the world.”

The post Floyd Mayweather: Conor McGregor Fight Is For ‘All Blacks Around The World’ appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.