Tag: UFC 194

Dana White Says Conor McGregor Would Get Immediate Title Shot at Lightweight

Conor McGregor has long been open about his desire to hold UFC gold in different weight classes. After winning the featherweight title at UFC 194, he appears ready to take another huge step in realizing that goal.
UFC President Dana White said early Su…

Conor McGregor has long been open about his desire to hold UFC gold in different weight classes. After winning the featherweight title at UFC 194, he appears ready to take another huge step in realizing that goal.

UFC President Dana White said early Sunday morning that, should McGregor make good on his pledge to move up to the 155-pound lightweight division, he would receive an immediate shot at the title.

“The funny thing is that [McGregor coach] John Kavanagh in the Octagon said he’ll never make 145 again,” White said during the Fox Sports 1 post-fight show, per Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie. “I’d bring him straight in for a title shot. …They’ve been talking about going to 155, but you never know with Conor.”

UFC spokesman Dave Sholler subsequently confirmed White’s statement at the UFC 194 post-fight news conference.

Chances of the move seemed stronger than ever after McGregor dropped the interim tag from his featherweight belt in the UFC 194 main event. Just seconds into his bout with lineal champ Jose Aldo, McGregor fired a left hook that caused Aldo to pitch forward and fall on his face. One perfunctory hammer strike later and referee John McCarthy waved off the contest. The official result was a knockout in a mere 13 seconds.

Also at the post-fight news conference, McGregor reiterated his desire to move to lightweight shortly after the fight.

“We have some options. We have some decisions to make,” he said. “Most certainly I’m looking to replicate what I did in my previous promotion: a two-weight world champion held consecutively. I said I would do it. And I will do it.”

At the same time, he noted that he had no plans to vacate his new featherweight crown and acknowledged that he’s still interested in certain featherweight matchups, including with Frankie Edgar, who defeated Chad Mendes Friday night with a left-hook knockout of his own.

“When I go up for that lightweight belt, I will still be a featherweight champion also,” McGregor said. “I will be a dual-weight champion. The belts will still be active, because I am active. … You’ve got Frankie, who had a good win last night. That could be for the featherweight belt; maybe a Jose rematch or [the] 155-pound strap. I enjoy options. Options are a good thing in the fight game.”

The 27-year-old McGregor (19-2) may have more options than any other fighter in MMA right now. With former women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey losing her strap to Holly Holm at UFC 193, McGregor may have just become the new face of the sport. 

Time will tell for sure what awaits McGregor and the UFC. In the meantime, lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos defends his title against Donald Cerrone—two men with whom McGregor has conveniently traded words—at UFC on Fox 17 on December 19.

Also in the lightweight division, there is a certain fighter named Joe Duffy, otherwise known as the last man to defeat McGregor. Duffy, who is also Irish, did the deed back in 2010 in the British Cage Warriors promotion.

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Aldo vs. McGregor Results: Winner, Comments, Storylines to Watch After UFC 194

Conor McGregor claimed the featherweight title at UFC 194 in dramatic style on Saturday night, as he knocked out Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas.
The Irishman certainly talked the talk before the bout, but he more …

Conor McGregor claimed the featherweight title at UFC 194 in dramatic style on Saturday night, as he knocked out Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas.

The Irishman certainly talked the talk before the bout, but he more than lived up to his own hype and landed a trademark left hook to leave Aldo unconscious on the canvas.

McGregor himself calls that left hook “the most feared in combat sports,” and after dodging a right lead by the Brazilian, he moved in for the kill. He then continued to land hefty hammer fists before referee John McCarthy stepped in to end the fight.

Here’s a look at the highlights from Saturday night’s dramatic clash, via BT Sport:

Aldo came into the title match having not tasted defeat in 18 fights—dating all the way back to 2005. Yet the way McGregor approached the bout, with an arrogant, feisty swagger, just made the result always feel inevitable.

Not even the Irishman could have realistically foreseen getting the job done quite so quickly, though.

Countryman and professional footballer Shay Given was one of many lauding McGregor after the fight, saying he put his money where his mouth is:

McGregor himself remained grounded in his post-match interview, saying he owes the victory to precision and speed—per Martin Domin of MailOnline:

No power, just precision. No speed, just timing. That’s all it takes, especially when you have my left hand. Nothing can take that left hand. What I say happens, happens. I felt like last fight week was gone before I could embrace it, but this time I took it in. The Irish are making the fight game what it is today. I think Aldo should reassess himself while I look to maybe go for the 155-pound belt or maybe I look at Frankie [Edgar], so there are options. I showed up tonight and put a stamp on the real belt, there is no doubt now.

Yet Aldo doesn’t want McGregor to get too used to having the belt around his waist, as he told reporters that he wants a rematch—via Josh Gross of the Guardian:

“I threw a punch and he came back with a cross. We need a rematch. It wasn’t a fight so we needed to get back in there.”

Although the Brazilian feels a little hard done by, you can take nothing away from McGregor’s performance—defeating a fighter of Aldo’s calibre in just 13 seconds is nothing short of spectacular.

There are plenty of options for the 27-year-old from here. Taking on Aldo again would certainly bring in the zeroes, as would letting in-form American Frankie Edgar have his shot at the title.

Either way, it doesn’t seem like McGregor is in any mood or position to be dethroned, and although his approach may be a little unorthodox, Saturday night proves that it works. This could well be a champion for the ages.

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Conor McGregor Throws Away UFC Playbook, Calls for Lightweight Title Shot

Conor McGregor wants to be the third UFC two-division champion, but he wants to be the first man to hold two belts at the same time. However, it’s unclear whether he’ll be allowed to do so.
Mixed reports came in about McGregor’s immediate future, with …

Conor McGregor wants to be the third UFC two-division champion, but he wants to be the first man to hold two belts at the same time. However, it’s unclear whether he’ll be allowed to do so.

Mixed reports came in about McGregor‘s immediate future, with UFC President Dana White hinting that his days as a featherweight may be done, while McGregor himself said that he intends to one-up Randy Couture and BJ Penn by holding two UFC titles at the same time.

White discussed the development in standard UFC terms. The UFC has never been keen on letting fighters bounce freely between divisions and has never let champions do it, unless the division had no remotely legitimate contender available. While there have been a handful of exceptions, the UFC prefers to assign fighters to a division, and hold them there fairly rigidly.

The implication from White was that McGregor would have to choose between vacating his featherweight title and moving up to lightweight for an immediate title shot, or stay at 145-pounds and defend his title.

McGregor, on the other hand, spoke at the post-fight press conference and made it crystal clear that he has no intention of vacating his featherweight title, and intends to hold both belts simultaneously.

It’s an interesting, previously unseen dynamic for the UFC and, quite simply, it feels like McGregor is actively ignoring the UFC’s plans and simply doing what is best for his brand, and his wallet. That’s a wise business move, of course, and it could easily pay off.

While a rematch with Aldo could be huge, the biggest potential fight for McGregor at this time would likely be a superfight opposite a champion Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Cerrone is arguably the biggest name in the UFC’s lightweight division and, if he manages to take the title from Rafael dos Anjos next week at UFC on Fox 17, he could represent the biggest paycheck available for the Irishman.

Warning, NSFW Language

Obviously, the world is only a few hours deep into the McGregor Era, and things could change in any number of ways over the coming months. Regardless, how this story unfolds could be one of 2016’s most important stories. Keep a close eye on this.

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After Record Knockout at UFC 194, Conor McGregor Takes over MMA World

From the beginning, Conor McGregor was sure he would win the featherweight championship, end the 10-year reign of Jose Aldo and take over the mixed martial arts world. He talked trash about nearly everyone within 20 pounds of him along the way, made su…

From the beginning, Conor McGregor was sure he would win the featherweight championship, end the 10-year reign of Jose Aldo and take over the mixed martial arts world. He talked trash about nearly everyone within 20 pounds of him along the way, made sure he was in the crosshairs of anyone who mattered. The extra pressure he placed upon himself would have crushed most. 

It is difficult to quantify how much extra stress he put upon his journey by being so vocal about his perceived place in the fight world. He had much of it plotting his demise, sending private little hexes his way, and sometimes openly cursing him. The attention at times had to be crushing.

That’s what happens when you promise to take over countries, to conquer multiple divisions.

But for McGregor, his words were never a prediction. They were a vow. And on Saturday, at UFC 194, he delivered what he had always promised: UFC gold. It took McGregor only one punch to fulfill the bold words he had stated so many times in the past. In the opening exchange of the fight, he dropped Jose Aldo with a left cross and finished him with hammer strikes from the top.

Most of those were cursory. By the end of the first punch, it was over. Aldo was felled and unconscious. It was only up to the ref to catch up to the situation. The king was slain and the UFC featherweight championship had changed hands.

One thing is clear: It’s McGregor’s world now. With Ronda Rousey’s recent loss, he becomes the most in-demand name in MMA, its top headliner.

McGregor has drawn the two biggest gates of the year, with somewhere around $10 million at UFC 194 and $7.2 million at UFC 189 in July. This is the kind of money he is drawing in the U.S.

In his home country of Ireland, he is fast becoming an idol. He has stumped for a headlining date in Dublin’s Croke Park, a soccer stadium that holds upwards of 80,000, and given his increased bargaining power, he may be able to push for it and shatter UFC attendance records.

With McGregor Mania in full swing, it doesn’t seem that far-fetched. Actually, it seems downright probable.

That is what happens when you do these kinds of things, when you surpass expectations and leave the audience breathless.

The whole thing was a blur, lasting only 13 seconds, making it the fastest title fight in UFC history. It was so quick that the sold-out MGM Grand Garden Arena crowd barely reacted to the finish. Most everyone had braced themselves for something long and drawn-out, something grinding and violent. 

After all, these guys were both just too good. Aldo hadn’t lost in a full decade, not since he was 19 years old. He had beaten a murderer’s row of opponents, from Frankie Edgar to Chad Mendes to Kenny Florian, and had done so sometimes devastatingly, always decisively, rarely pushed and seldom challenged. 

Aldo was largely considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters of all time, and while McGregor had flashed stunning power and rolled through everyone he’d faced, by the time the fight went off, it was considered a toss-up in the betting line. 

So when the opening bell went off, everyone was prepared for a battle, a see-saw type of fight with momentum swings. When the end came on that short left hand, few reacted. It was more shock than celebration, even for the thousands that had reacted wildly to everything McGregor had done to antagonize Aldo since the two were first paired together at the beginning of 2015.

All of that lead-up up, for … this?

“Nobody can take that left-hand shot,” McGregor said on the broadcast shortly after the fight ended. “He’s powerful and he’s fast, but precision beats power, and timing beats speed, and that’s what you saw there. I feel for him. He was a phenomenal champion. He deserved to go a little bit longer but I still feel at the end of the day, precision beats power, and timing beats speed, so it would’ve happened sooner or later.”

“He threw a cross on me that I wasn’t expecting,” Aldo said on the broadcast moments after the knockout. “I think we need the rematch. It wasn’t a fight. We need to get back in there.”

It will be hard to rationalize a rematch in this instance, and harder still to sell it. As historically great as Aldo has been during his days in the Zuffa fold (he was 15-0 heading into UFC 194), it will be nearly impossible to portray him as a threat to McGregor after losing in 13 seconds. 

MMA is dangerous and unpredictable, but no one can argue that Aldo just had an off-night. Thirteen seconds. That fact is its own case for moving on. 

Unbelievable. Unimaginable. But it happened.

So what might be next for McGregor? How about anything he wants. The UFC as a brand has always remained bigger than any individual fighter, but McGregor becomes the latest to threaten that. He is creating so much revenue for the company that he would be within his rights to renegotiate a contract in the eight-figure range. 

There was a time when the fight world agreed that lower-weight fighters would never draw, and yet here we are, with the biggest draw in the world a 145-pound Irishman. Who could have seen it coming?

Only McGregor. From the beginning, he vowed to become the best, to take over. In a blink, in a 13-second storm, he shook up the fight world, slammed it down, rearranged everything we thought we knew about it.

For him, featherweight might not be enough. There are just more and more promises, piled on each other, atop the fallen bodies that he’s built his legacy upon. “Mystic Mac,” seeing the future, then creating it.

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Jose Aldo Calls for Immediate Rematch Following UFC 194 Loss to Conor McGregor

Jose Aldo wants a do-over! That man wants a do-over, dang it!
Following the main event of UFC 194, the now-former UFC featherweight champion called for an immediate rematch against the new unified featherweight champion, Conor McGregor.
He said, per MM…

Jose Aldo wants a do-over! That man wants a do-over, dang it!

Following the main event of UFC 194, the now-former UFC featherweight champion called for an immediate rematch against the new unified featherweight champion, Conor McGregor.

He said, per MMAFighting.com’s Shaun Al-Shatti: “I think that we need the rematch. It was really not a fight, so I think we need to get back in here.”

Aldo, of course, was knocked out cleanly by Conor McGregor in the long-awaited main event of UFC 194. After 10 seconds of pawing at one another, both men leaped forward into left hands, with McGregor‘s landing a split-second earlier.

The Brazilian crashed to the mat (though his left hand actually landed as well, opening a cut under McGregor‘s eye first) and was finished shortly thereafter by uncontested hammerfists.

The fight officially went down as a knockout via punches at 0:13 of Round 1.

While the loss was undeniably devastating, it’s hard to dismiss Aldo’s requests. Aldo has built a legacy as one of the greatest fighters in MMA history, and he owns impressive wins over elite-level competition like Alexandre Franca Nogueira, Urijah Faber, Frankie Edgar and Chad Mendes.

In this world where Cain Velasquez can get an immediate rematch following a lopsided loss to Fabricio Werdum after an unremarkable run as champion, it would be an injustice to not give Aldo another crack at the belt.

“I think we need a rematch, and that will be my fight. The trash talking didn’t affect me,” he said per a UFC press release (h/t Daily Mail). “I don’t care what he says. Thanks to everyone watching in Brazil and thank you for the support. I will be back.”

That said, there are more than a few interesting alternatives if the UFC is looking to get out of the Aldo business. Frankie Edgar and Max Holloway both scored huge wins this weekend, and own resumes deserving of a title shot. The UFC’s plans for the new champ will likely become clear over the coming days.

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Conor McGregor’s KO Breaks Ronda Rousey’s Record for Fastest Title Fight Finish

Conor McGregor ousted the reigning featherweight champion, Jose Aldo, in just 13 seconds at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night. It is a new record for the quickest finish in UFC championship history.
What was the previous…

Conor McGregor ousted the reigning featherweight champion, Jose Aldo, in just 13 seconds at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night. It is a new record for the quickest finish in UFC championship history.

What was the previous record?—14 seconds. Ronda Rousey defeated a rambunctious Cat Zingano at UFC 184 on February 28. Ten events later, that record has fallen. UFC 194 delivered in a big way and was capped off with an astonishing knockout that had to be seen to be believed.

One little second put McGregor in a league of his own.

The UFC put together three events spanning three days, and the move of the weekend was the left hook—something the Irish star excels at. He showed it off right out of the gate against Aldo. McGregor timed it perfectly, and the left hook put the Brazilian out like a light.

A new reign began in Las Vegas.

Rousey capitalized on a mistake—whereas McGregor finished on his own accord. Either way, both finishes were extremely impressive.

Aldo’s loss marked the third title loss by three of the most dominant champions in the UFC. And it happened in a 30-day span. Holly Holm upset Rousey, Luke Rockhold knocked off Chris Weidman and McGregor made history with a broken record.

It is quite something to have that record broken twice in a year, especially when you reflect on how difficult it is to finish a fight within 15 or 25 minutes—let alone 15 seconds. Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey did that in 2015.

McGregor talks the talk and walks the walk. He is truly special, and he has backed everything up in the cage. UFC 194 was another example of what true belief in oneself can bring.

In McGregor’s case, it brought him 12 pounds of gold.

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