Featherweight champion Conor McGregor said that he’d be the bigger fighter in his lightweight championship bout against Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 197 on March 5, and from the looks of a recent photoshoot, he wasn’t kidding. McGregor, who declared that we’ve ‘seen him on the salads, now we’ll see him on the steaks’
Featherweight champion Conor McGregor said that he’d be the bigger fighter in his lightweight championship bout against Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 197 on March 5, and from the looks of a recent photoshoot, he wasn’t kidding.
McGregor, who declared that we’ve ‘seen him on the salads, now we’ll see him on the steaks’ at last week’s UFC 197 press conference has apparently been enjoying not having to put his body through the taxing cut down to featherweight’s 145-pound limit. He posted photo to his Instagram account of him looking rather huge and ripped in preparation for his bid to become a two-division champ.
Today the MMA world is still digesting the fallout of this week’s unfortunate news that former heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez was forced out of his UFC 196 rematch with Fabricio Werdum due to a back injury, although it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise at this point. Werdum was originally slated to face No.
Today the MMA world is still digesting the fallout of this week’s unfortunate news that former heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez was forced out of his UFC 196 rematch with Fabricio Werdum due to a back injury, although it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise at this point.
Werdum was originally slated to face No. 2-ranked late replacement Stipe Miocic for the interim belt, but that bout also fell apart yesterday afternoon when ‘Vai Cavalo’ bowed out with another back injury after stating he would have fought through it in order to face Velasquez. Regardless of that tenuous situation, it was obviously the former champ that set this ultimately messy windfall into motion.
Long thought to be the UFC’s meal ticket to the largely untapped but fight-crazed Latin American market, Velasquez was forced out of yet another high-profile pay-per-view title fight, calling his career into question while simultaneously doing the same thing for the UFC’s insistence to basically let the entire direction of the heavyweight division be dictated by the frequently injured fighter’s scant availability.
It’s also called into question the training practices at Velasquez’ heralded American Kickboxing Academy (AKA); at least even more so than the already intense scrutiny they’ve had to absorb after both Velasquez and absent lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov have missed a huge chunk of their prime due to injuries supposedly suffered because of AKA’s rough-and-tumble training methods.
Whatever the reason, the UFC gambled big on Velasquez, and he isn’t the first expectedly marketable former champion that they’ve done this with to devastating results.
The promotion also has egg on its face in the huge hype and promotion of former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, another oft-injured and unreliable ‘superstar’ that gained his reputation in no small part thanks to one highlight reel move that will forever be etched into MMA history – his ‘Showtime Kick’ on Benson Henderson that helped him win the WEC title back in 2010.
While the obviously talented, handsome, articulated, and flashy ‘Showtime’ undoubtedly had many of the pieces to become a unique superstar in the UFC, ultimately he has, to this point, proved to be both injury prone and ineffective against the smothering wrestlers populating his division, and that’s lead to another absence of payoff in another proposed star that just didn’t pan out.
And the UFC could have avoided both of those scenarios, but this is what happens when you put too many of your proverbial eggs in one (or two) baskets. Let’s take a look at where things went wrong for Dana White and company, starting with the case of Velasquez….
Jose Aldo unfortunately put forth what was by far the worst performance of his legendary mixed martial arts (MMA) career when Irish megastar Conor McGregor knocked him out with one fateful left hand in the main event of December 12s UFC 194 from Las Vegas. However, apart from the surprisingly swift nature of his
Jose Aldo unfortunately put forth what was by far the worst performance of his legendary mixed martial arts (MMA) career when Irish megastar Conor McGregor knocked him out with one fateful left hand in the main event of December 12s UFC 194 from Las Vegas.
However, apart from the surprisingly swift nature of his loss, Aldo simply won’t accept any other fight except for a rematch or some form of championship bout. The decorated former champion was undefeated for an unprecedented 10 years, and based on those merits, he told Irish site Independent.ie that the plan was for him to rematch McGregor, so he won’t take another bout unless it’s for the belt:
“That was the idea [re-match] when the fight was over. If someone asks me what I want, it’s the rematch, of course. I don’t see another fight for me besides a title fight or a rematch.”
While it could be quite some time before McGregor defends his featherweight belt given that he’s moved up to lightweight to take on champion Rafael dos Anjos in the main event of March 5’s UFC 197, Aldo could also be slated for a rematch for the title with Frankie Edgar if the ‘Notorious’ decides to stay put at 155.
The whole situation of allowing McGregor to hold onto the featherweight belt and fight for another title a weight class up has never been allowed in the UFC up until now, and Aldo’s head coach and longtime trainer Andre Pederneiras is understandably upset by it.
Jump to the next page to find out how Nova Uniao’s headman blasted the UFC….
It may have seemed that UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor couldn’t get any more brash or outspoken in his instant-classic media quips, but heading into his historic bid to become the first simultaneous two-division champion when he faces Rafael dos Anjos at March’s 5 UFC 197, just that is actually transpiring. As usual, ‘Notorious’ ramped
It may have seemed that UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor couldn’t get any more brash or outspoken in his instant-classic media quips, but heading into his historic bid to become the first simultaneous two-division champion when he faces Rafael dos Anjos at March’s 5 UFC 197, just that is actually transpiring.
As usual, ‘Notorious’ ramped up the promotion for the blockbuster affair as only he can do at a press conference this week, promising to ‘dust dos Anjos’ in one minute and go on to win the welterweight crown, but he also may have crossed a line when he brought race into the equation by calling ‘RDA’ a traitor to his Brazilian country men due to him moving his family and camp to California.
McGregor has, of course, brought Brazil into the mix before his highly hyped promotion for his 13-second of Jose Aldo at last December 12’s UFC 194, but this time it’s gotten personal. Dos Anjos understandably isn’t too pleased with the accusations, and he lashed out at McGregor at the event.
Jump to the next page to find out just what the lightweight champion said about the Irish superstar….
Team USA vs. Team Ireland at UFC 200! What a fight that would be, and now Frankie Edgar sets the scene with some unique….trash talk? UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor has got on the wrong side of a lot of opponents during his UFC run, most notably during his wild year-long feud with former champ
Team USA vs. Team Ireland at UFC 200! What a fight that would be, and now Frankie Edgar sets the scene with some unique….trash talk?
UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor has got on the wrong side of a lot of opponents during his UFC run, most notably during his wild year-long feud with former champ Jose Aldo. Perhaps the feelings Frankie Edgar has towards McGregor are stronger than anyone else’s though, and the two are yet to fight. ‘The Notorious’ moving up to lightweight has meant Edgar being made to wait for a title shot yet again, as the Irish star is now booked to face Rafael dos Anjos for the lightweight strap at UFC 197.
Aside from probably having to rematch Jose Aldo next to stay active, ‘The Answer’ has also voiced his displeasure with McGregor being allowed to put the featherweight title on hold, as he was denied the same luxury while serving as the lightweight champion. So for many reasons, Frankie is not too happy right now.
It wouldn’t be a Frankie Edgar fight if he didn’t get just a little busted up…
The lack of trash talk has seemingly hindered Edgar’s rise to another title fight, but he’s looked to put that right lately, or at least through his manager assuming his identity on Twitter.
Talking to FOX Sports, the former lightweight boss had some interesting opinions on when he’ll finally face McGregor, and also the UFC 197 main event. Check it out:
“I kind of had an idea it was going to happen before it was announced, I think Conor played the smart move, he played the business move. You can’t blame him for that, it just sucks that it’s at my expense and now I’m in limbo since I was supposed to get that next title shot. If he stuck around and lost to me, he has no option to go up to 155. I think now he goes up, win or lose, he’s still got the belt and he can come back down to 145. He played the safe play which is smart by him.
“You don’t see usually where the guys have that much say. Usually when you’re the champion, you fight the No. 1 contender, you don’t get to pick and choose. But he seems to be able to do that.”
“Not much. It was pretty much wait and see what happens March 5 before they make any decision,” Edgar revealed. “I know I’m in line for it. I assume (Jose) Aldo is being considered, but I went out there and made my case. I think that is the biggest fight, I think that’s the fight most people are interested in seeing and I’m hoping the UFC does the right thing and books me and Conor for UFC 200.
“I’m pretty much on the backburner until March. I’m going to be in the gym to help my teammates and getting better and working on some southpaw fighters.”
Here’s the fun part:
Skip to page 2 for the rest of the awesome interview…
UFC 197, which is slated for March 5, 2016 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, will play host to arguably one of the biggest fights in not only promotional history, but sport history as well. Reigning featherweight champion and Irish superstar the “Notorious” Conor McGregor will be moving up to challenge
UFC 197, which is slated for March 5, 2016 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, will play host to arguably one of the biggest fights in not only promotional history, but sport history as well.
Reigning featherweight champion and Irish superstar the “Notorious” Conor McGregor will be moving up to challenge lightweight boss Rafael dos Anjos for the 155-pound title.
Although McGregor’s title won’t be on the line, this is a bout between champions, and a sure super fight to say the least. According to the “Notorious” one, however, the fight isn’t being promoted that way, and the Irishman isn’t too happy about it.
Recently speaking at the UFC 197 press conference which was held in Las Vegas earlier this week, McGregor wondered why he wasn’t holding his belt in the event’s promotional posters, even going as far as to call the work “garbage”:
“This is a super fight. I look upon that poster, I see myself tucked in the back there. That’s what I just noticed, where is my damn belt? Where are all these historic images? These are posters that will be looked back on long after it’s all said and done and you’ve got to look back on that absolute garbage. So you know, I think I might have to go into that department because they must be getting comfortable in that poster department. They wanna get their act together and start doing their damn job. [Dos Anjos] fought on free TV. He’s never brought a dime to the company, he’s never made a dime yet there he is sitting on the front of my poster.”
When asked what the reasoning behind this was, UFC President Dana White simply stated that it was because McGregor wasn’t defending his title.
This isn’t the first time two champions have gone head to head in the Octagon, as former lightweight champion BJ Penn took on former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre back at UFC 94 for St-Pierre’s then held 170-pound strap.
Oddly enough, Penn’s 155-pound title was in the event’s posters, with “The Prodigy” carrying it around leading it up the bout as well. It was made clear that UFC 94’s main event was a bout between two champions making this current scenario quite odd, especially given McGregor’s star power.
