Tag: UFC 196

Conor McGregor says he will return to MMA.

With the lightweight champion in negotiations to fight twice in 2018 while Dana White insisted McGregor ‘understood why he was being stripped’ of the 155-pound title, ‘The Notorious’ took to his own personal Instagram account to confirm he will be back, period, because he’s the best.

His return was apparently closer than we all thought too, as he offered to fill in for Max Holloway at March 3’s UFC 222, but the UFC couldn’t raise the funds to pay him his now-astronomical asking price:

“I am fighting again. Period. I am the best at this.

I put my name forward to step in at UFC 222 to face Frankie Edgar when Max Holloway pulled out, but I was told there wasn’t enough time to generate the money that the UFC would need.

I was excited about bouncing in last minute and taking out the final featherweight, without all the rest of the stuff that comes with this game. Please respect the insane amount of work outside the fight game that I have put in.

On top of the fighting.
I am here.
It is on them to come and get me. Because I am here.

Yours sincerely,
The Champ Champ”

I am fighting again. Period. I am the best at this. I put my name forward to step in at UFC 222 to face Frankie Edgar when Max Holloway pulled out, but I was told there wasn't enough time to generate the money that the UFC would need. I was excited about bouncing in last minute and taking out the final featherweight, without all the rest of the stuff that comes with this game. Please respect the insane amount of work outside the fight game that I have put in. On top of the fighting. I am here. It is on them to come and get me. Because I am here. Yours sincerely, The Champ Champ

A post shared by Conor McGregor Official (@thenotoriousmma) on Feb 22, 2018 at 11:58am PST

So it appears to be a matter of cold, hard cash – as always – and the word is the UFC and McGregor are getting closer and closer on agreeing to terms for his return.

He may or may not be stripped of his title, but the consensus has him facing the winner of UFC 223’s Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov title fight.

That is, unless Floyd Mayweather actually makes his way to the UFC.

The post Conor McGregor Confirms He’s Returning To MMA appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Dana White insisted Conor McGregor ‘understands the decision to strip him’ of his lightweight title, but some further news has surfaced suggesting that may be a moot point.

According to Dave Meltzer of F4Wonline.com (via Bloody Elbow), McGregor is in negotiations to return for not only one UFC fight in 2018 but two:

“The word is that negotiations with Conor McGregor are going well. No deal to return has been inked but they are said to be not so far apart and are in talks about him doing two fights in 2018.”

A ton of heat has recently surfaced about McGregor possibly returning to face Floyd Mayweather, whom he lost a tenth-round TKO in their hyped boxing match last August, in the Octagon.

However, Meltzer believes that Mayweather will not ultimately sign with the UFC to compete in a sport he would be at a massive disadvantage. And if he does not, the obvious choice for McGregor in the UFC would be a bout versus the winner of UFC 223’s Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov main event:

“All the pub right now is Mayweather under MMA rules but I can’t see Mayweather agreeing to that, even though it’s huge money,” Meltzer noted. “The UFC fight idea is the winner of Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov”

It’s an obvious choice, yet there’s far from a guarantee that McGregor will return to the UFC in 2018, if ever again.

He made a reported $100 million to box Mayweather, and as White hinted in his recent interview where he said Ferguson and Khabib would be fighting ‘for the title,’ he wouldn’t go as far to say that the UFC had officially stripped “The Notorious.”

Many believe that’s coming right before UFC 223.

With White noncommittal on McGregor’s return and the Irish star recently having broken the record for the longest UFC title reign without defending, everything is still as clear as mud.

We don’t fully know what’s going on behind the scenes, but if Meltzer’s report proves true, something huge could be coming soon.

“We’ll see what happens” – Dana White

The post Conor McGregor Reportedly In Negotiations For Two Fights In 2018 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Conor McGregor has a new UFC record, but it’s not necessarily one that will earn him a plaque in the UFC Hall of Fame.

One year, three months, and one week – or 464 total days as of today – after he became the first UFC fighter to hold titles in two weight classes simultaneously by defeating Eddie Alvarez, McGregor now holds the record for the longest title reign without attempting to make his first title defense of the lightweight belt according to numbers chronicled by Bloody Elbow, a record McGregor officially broke last Sunday (February 18, 2018).

McGregor also held the UFC featherweight belt but did not defend it for 350 days and was stripped of the title only weeks after winning the lightweight belt.

That absence without defending the belt was long enough for McGregor to also hold the sixth-longest reign without attempting to defend. As it stands as of yesterday, he broke Anthony Pettis for the longest as well, although “Showtime’s” 463-day absence was due to injury, as were the other absences without defending in the top five from Frank Mir, Cain Velasquez’s first reign, and Matt Serra.

McGregor is unique in a sense, however, as his absence has been completely self-imposed. He spent the majority of 2017 seeking and getting a farcical boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, a spectacle that was one of the most lucrative events in combat sports history and made McGregor a reported $100 million, the most likely culprit for his now record-setting absence.

As MMA fans reach a fever pitch in their demands for McGregor to defend the title against the winner of UFC 223’s Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov fight, a contest that’s supposed to be for the ‘real’ title, he’s been lobbying for a rematch with Mayweather, this time in the UFC octagon.

Whispers have also swirled that the UFC will strip McGregor before UFC 223 once they know the oft-scheduled Ferguson vs. Khabib bout will finally happen without incident.

Regardless, McGregor’s inactivity is now historic, and if he were to get a second fight with Mayweather, we could most likely count on him not returning or ever defending his title.

At least he etched his name into the record books – and now, in more ways than one.

The post Conor McGregor Breaks Record For Longest Title Reign Without Defending appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Fan favorite Stockton slugger Nate Diaz has been teasing an anticipated Octagon return in recent months, but he made an impact only he could at tonight’s (Sun. Feb. 18, 2018) UFC Fight Night 126 from Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas.

Given some limited camera time when the FOX Sports 1 broadcast shifted to him in the crowd during the program, Diaz used the second such time to light one of his favorite hobbies.

Was it a real blunt? Who knows, but you can’t put it past him, and this won’t hurt the hype for his rumored return at all.

Watch it unfold courtesy of Robbie Fox on Twitter here:

*nate diaz is on camera for one second*

*throws joint in his mouth* pic.twitter.com/iXwr5I81Jt

— Robbie Fox (@RobbieBarstool) February 19, 2018

The post Video: Nate Diaz Blazes Up In Public At UFC Austin appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.