Knockout machine and UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor will attempt to punch his way towards a second title at November 12’s UFC 205 from Madison Square Garden in New York when he takes on reigning 155-pound champion Eddie Alvarez. After two fights at welterweight against Nate Diaz, the 145-pound titleholder will look to become the
Knockout machine and UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor will attempt to punch his way towards a second title at November 12’s UFC 205 from Madison Square Garden in New York when he takes on reigning 155-pound champion Eddie Alvarez. After two fights at welterweight against Nate Diaz, the 145-pound titleholder will look to become the first man in promotional history to hold two titles simultaneously, and his striking coach, Owen Roddy, has no issue seeing this taking place.
Although he did note that McGregor will have to prepare for Alvarez’s wrestling, Roddy said on a recent edition of Submission Radio that it’ll only be ‘a matter of time before Alvarez goes to sleep’:
“I honestly never really change my prediction because I see what Conor does day in, day out in the gym. I see how clean his striking is and I see how powerful he is. And I honestly think Alvarez has been dropped a few times and stuff like that. So I mean, that’s not good knowing when you’re going in to fight Conor McGregor. If you’ve been dropped before and you’re going in fighting Conor McGregor, there’s a very, very high chance that you’re going to be dropped again. Alvarez is a great wrestler, so there will be things we’ll be working on with Conor to make sure that Alvarez can’t keep a hold of him, can’t keep him against the fence, but Conor’s gonna land and I think it’s going to be a matter of time before Alvarez goes to sleep to be totally honest.”
McGregor himself also predicted a first round finish over “The Silent Assassin” at last week’s press conference.
As far as the striking department goes, McGregor may indeed hold the advantage over Alvarez, who’s coming off of a brutal stoppage victory over Rafael dos Anjos last July. The Irishman, however, has suffered all three of his career losses by way of submission which could boost Alvarez’s confidence as the champion likely has the superior grappling.
In the end, styles make fights, and this ‘super fight’ should prove to be an exciting contest.
Who do you see taking home lightweight gold next month?
Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson will finally get his shot at UFC gold after leaving a murderer’s row of body trails in his path, having downed elite 170-pounders in the form of former champ Johny Hendricks and two-time title challenger Rory MacDonald. Thompson will step into the Octagon with current welterweight king Tyron ‘The Chosen One’ Woodley,
Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson will finally get his shot at UFC gold after leaving a murderer’s row of body trails in his path, having downed elite 170-pounders in the form of former champ Johny Hendricks and two-time title challenger Rory MacDonald.
Thompson will step into the Octagon with current welterweight king Tyron ‘The Chosen One’ Woodley, who is coming off of a fierce first round knockout over Robbie Lawler at UFC 201 to secure the strap, in the co-main event of UFC 205 from Madison Square Garden.
‘Wonderboy’ earned his shot at the 170-pound throne after having put on a beautiful 25-minute performance against the now Bellator bound Rory MacDonald, by earning a unanimous decision decision victory over ‘The Red King’ at UFC Fight Night 89 this past June.
MacDonald has quite the resume himself when it comes to Octagon experience, interestingly enough owning a unanimous decision win over the current champ Woodley from their clash at UFC 174 in 2014.
Thompson recently joined Submission Radio, courtesy of MMA Mania, to discuss his upcoming match-up with Woodley and stated that he already believes he faced the toughest challenge at 170-pounds in the form of MacDonald:
“If you look back at his fights, he doesn’t throw a double or go for the takedown very often. Tyron wants to put those hands on you and wants to try and knock you out. I think once he gets a little frustrated, obviously he’s gonna try and do that, just like everybody else that I’ve faced. I think pretty much the hardest opponent in the division is Rory MacDonald. I mean, Rory pretty much schooled Tyron Woodley. But I can’t take this guy lightly and that’s how I go in looking at this fight.
A lot of people are like, ‘oh man, you’re gonna crush this dude and Tyron Woodley, he smoked him’ and you know what, I don’t think like that. I’m not the type of guy to do that. Because I want to prepare for the best guy, and that’s Tyron Woodley. That’s the guy standing in front of me. I’m preparing myself as if this is going to be the hardest fight that I have ever faced – and it possibly could be. I want to be ready for five, five-minute rounds.”
The 33-year-old former undefeated kickboxer is one of the most feared strikers in the UFC today, and could certainly reign as the next great champion in the welterweight division with a potential win over Woodley in November. Could the Serra-Longo Fight Team product be the next big Georges St-Pierre caliber champ in the UFC? Only time will tell.
Woodley and Thompson will go toe-to-toe in the co-main event of UFC 205 for the welterweight championship live on pay-per-view (PPV), from the Madison Square Garden arena in New York City on November 12, 2016.
If everything goes as planned, UFC 205 among many other blockbuster fights, will feature UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley making the first defense of his newly won title against clear-cut number one contender Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, however if Wonderboy isn’t able to make it to the Octagon on November 12th, Demian Maia will apparently be ready to jump on the opportunity.
Maia’s manager, Eduardo Alonso, noted that after his fighters quick win over former interim UFC Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit, they will be waiting on standby to fill-in for Wonderboy should he get injured in training as fighters often do during the build-up to fights, especially important fights such as once in a lifetime title opportunities.
“A title shot is a unique opportunity you don’t turn down,” Maia’s manager Eduardo Alonso told MMAFighting.com. “But if any injury happens to ‘Wonderboy’ and we get a call, unless Demian is injured, we will take the opportunity because you never know what tomorrow will bring. We see what happened to ‘Jacare’ [Souza], for an example, who unfortunately got injured and couldn’t get his chance. [Michael] Bisping got the chance and became champion, and ‘Jacare’ is still going after his opportunity. You never know what will happen tomorrow. An opportunity like this, you say yes and do your best.”
In the event that Thompson does make it the cage at the event in Madison Square Garden in New York City in November, Maia will be looking to fight whoever emerges from the Woodley-Thompson fight as the UFC Welterweight Champion.
“The idea now is to face the winner of this fight,” Alonso said. “Demian deserved a title shot already, and it’s pretty obvious after this fight that he’s the next in line. I don’t see anyone deserving it more than him. We know that deserving is something relative in the sport today, but we have to find a balance between spectacle and sport. You have to aim for long term credibility as any other sports league, and you need to use meritocracy as one of your criteria.
“You don’t change the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals or the Champions League final simply because one team is more popular or less popular. You set objective criteria. After ‘Wonderboy’ vs. Tyron Woodley, Demian is the next in line no matter what happens in future fights. I believe he will have this opportunity. He deserves it.”
UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor is scheduled to take place on Saturday, November 12th at the world-famous Madison Square Garden arena in New York City. Join us here at MMANews.com on 11/12 for live coverage of the UFC 205 pay-per-view!
If everything goes as planned, UFC 205 among many other blockbuster fights, will feature UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley making the first defense of his newly won title against clear-cut number one contender Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, however if Wonderboy isn’t able to make it to the Octagon on November 12th, Demian Maia will apparently be ready to jump on the opportunity.
Maia’s manager, Eduardo Alonso, noted that after his fighters quick win over former interim UFC Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit, they will be waiting on standby to fill-in for Wonderboy should he get injured in training as fighters often do during the build-up to fights, especially important fights such as once in a lifetime title opportunities.
“A title shot is a unique opportunity you don’t turn down,” Maia’s manager Eduardo Alonso told MMAFighting.com. “But if any injury happens to ‘Wonderboy’ and we get a call, unless Demian is injured, we will take the opportunity because you never know what tomorrow will bring. We see what happened to ‘Jacare’ [Souza], for an example, who unfortunately got injured and couldn’t get his chance. [Michael] Bisping got the chance and became champion, and ‘Jacare’ is still going after his opportunity. You never know what will happen tomorrow. An opportunity like this, you say yes and do your best.”
In the event that Thompson does make it the cage at the event in Madison Square Garden in New York City in November, Maia will be looking to fight whoever emerges from the Woodley-Thompson fight as the UFC Welterweight Champion.
“The idea now is to face the winner of this fight,” Alonso said. “Demian deserved a title shot already, and it’s pretty obvious after this fight that he’s the next in line. I don’t see anyone deserving it more than him. We know that deserving is something relative in the sport today, but we have to find a balance between spectacle and sport. You have to aim for long term credibility as any other sports league, and you need to use meritocracy as one of your criteria.
“You don’t change the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals or the Champions League final simply because one team is more popular or less popular. You set objective criteria. After ‘Wonderboy’ vs. Tyron Woodley, Demian is the next in line no matter what happens in future fights. I believe he will have this opportunity. He deserves it.”
UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor is scheduled to take place on Saturday, November 12th at the world-famous Madison Square Garden arena in New York City. Join us here at MMANews.com on 11/12 for live coverage of the UFC 205 pay-per-view!
One of the big back-and-forth arguments that took place prior to the UFC announcing Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez for UFC 205 centered around any injuries for “Notorious.”
Owen Roddy, the head striking coach for the UFC featherweight champion, told Submission Radio recently that McGregor escaped the fight without any serious injury.
“No. No. Nothing really. Conor’s leg is perfectly fine. So yeah, no. As I said, after the Diaz fight, he was back moving around within days,” he said. “So he’s good to go and we have six weeks now. So he’ll be firing on all cylinders from now till the fight.”
McGregor will challenge Alvarez for the lightweight title, giving him the chance to be the first-ever dual UFC champion. Two previous fighters, BJ Penn and Randy Couture, have held belts in multiple weight classes at different times.
“Yeah I do in a sense. No disrespect to Alvarez, he is a great fighter and stuff, but he does move similar to a lot of people that Conor has fought. And even when Conor’s fought strikers, they all become that type of fighter. When Conor lands, you become a panicked wrestler, and that’s what’s going to happen,” he said. “Conor’s very clean, and when it comes to a couple of exchanges, Alvarez is going to feel the difference in accuracy and the difference in power and he will start to wrestle and that’s what they all do. So I mean, Conor’s fought the same type of person all his career. Alvarez is a great wrestler, so there will be things we’ll be working on with Conor to make sure that Alvarez can’t keep a hold of him, can’t keep him against the fence, but Conor’s gonna land and I think it’s going to be a matter of time before Alvarez goes to sleep to be totally honest.”
Roddy also believes that 155 pounds is the right spot for McGregor moving forward, but he isn’t ruling out a title defense at 145 just yet, either.
“For me, this is it. This is where you’re going to see the best Conor McGregor. I was talking to somebody else about this the other day, that fighting at welterweight, it’s hard for Conor to maintain his high output for 25 minutes. He’s not a welterweight. And he did it against one of the toughest fighters in the game, against Diaz, but it’s just that it’s not his weight category. And then when he moved to 145, he does a lot to get the weight off,” he said. “He makes the weight perfect, but I don’t know how much he’s recovering in that 24 hours. I can’t imagine him getting back to one hundred percent in that 24 hours when he fights at 145 – and you see what he does at 145. But at 155, if you look at some of the fights in Cage Warriors, he just looks so good at that weight. That’s the weight he was supposed to be fighting at. And I think you’ll see the fastest, the fittest and the sharpest in regards to his mind, the sharpest McGregor that you will ever see now at lightweight.
“I’m up in the air. I don’t actually know, to be totally honest. You never know. Like I said, Conor controls who he wants to fight and whatnot. The 145 weight category, I mean, I really don’t know. Maybe if Edgar had beat Aldo, then it would have been a more tempting fight. But the fact that he beat Aldo obviously in thirteen seconds, it’s not as tempting to go back down there. But who knows, Conor could just turn around and say, ‘look, I want to go back and do this. I’m gonna go back and sort Aldo out’ – and he will and he could do it. Like, he could definitely make that weight. It is hard, it’s difficult, but he could do it. And the last weight cut against Aldo was the best cut he’s ever had to 145. Like, it was the best that I’ve ever seen him. The comparison between that and the (Chad) Mendes (fight), just the difference, it was just a complete – the Aldo weight cut was perfect and he was in great form for the cut and everything. So he can do it and the last one he’s done was perfect, so he could do it again. But who knows. Who knows what’s around the corner. I never know. That’s what’s so exciting about being part of Conor’s team, you never know what’s next. Like, you really don’t. After the Diaz fight, I was like, we’ll go back down and do Aldo or we might do Diaz again, and then the Alvarez thing popped up and now that’s what we’re doing. Now it’s New York and it’s crazy, it’s exciting and it’s unbelievable. But that’s the road we’re all on with Conor. Like, who knows where were going next? It’s great.”
One of the big back-and-forth arguments that took place prior to the UFC announcing Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez for UFC 205 centered around any injuries for “Notorious.”
Owen Roddy, the head striking coach for the UFC featherweight champion, told Submission Radio recently that McGregor escaped the fight without any serious injury.
“No. No. Nothing really. Conor’s leg is perfectly fine. So yeah, no. As I said, after the Diaz fight, he was back moving around within days,” he said. “So he’s good to go and we have six weeks now. So he’ll be firing on all cylinders from now till the fight.”
McGregor will challenge Alvarez for the lightweight title, giving him the chance to be the first-ever dual UFC champion. Two previous fighters, BJ Penn and Randy Couture, have held belts in multiple weight classes at different times.
“Yeah I do in a sense. No disrespect to Alvarez, he is a great fighter and stuff, but he does move similar to a lot of people that Conor has fought. And even when Conor’s fought strikers, they all become that type of fighter. When Conor lands, you become a panicked wrestler, and that’s what’s going to happen,” he said. “Conor’s very clean, and when it comes to a couple of exchanges, Alvarez is going to feel the difference in accuracy and the difference in power and he will start to wrestle and that’s what they all do. So I mean, Conor’s fought the same type of person all his career. Alvarez is a great wrestler, so there will be things we’ll be working on with Conor to make sure that Alvarez can’t keep a hold of him, can’t keep him against the fence, but Conor’s gonna land and I think it’s going to be a matter of time before Alvarez goes to sleep to be totally honest.”
Roddy also believes that 155 pounds is the right spot for McGregor moving forward, but he isn’t ruling out a title defense at 145 just yet, either.
“For me, this is it. This is where you’re going to see the best Conor McGregor. I was talking to somebody else about this the other day, that fighting at welterweight, it’s hard for Conor to maintain his high output for 25 minutes. He’s not a welterweight. And he did it against one of the toughest fighters in the game, against Diaz, but it’s just that it’s not his weight category. And then when he moved to 145, he does a lot to get the weight off,” he said. “He makes the weight perfect, but I don’t know how much he’s recovering in that 24 hours. I can’t imagine him getting back to one hundred percent in that 24 hours when he fights at 145 – and you see what he does at 145. But at 155, if you look at some of the fights in Cage Warriors, he just looks so good at that weight. That’s the weight he was supposed to be fighting at. And I think you’ll see the fastest, the fittest and the sharpest in regards to his mind, the sharpest McGregor that you will ever see now at lightweight.
“I’m up in the air. I don’t actually know, to be totally honest. You never know. Like I said, Conor controls who he wants to fight and whatnot. The 145 weight category, I mean, I really don’t know. Maybe if Edgar had beat Aldo, then it would have been a more tempting fight. But the fact that he beat Aldo obviously in thirteen seconds, it’s not as tempting to go back down there. But who knows, Conor could just turn around and say, ‘look, I want to go back and do this. I’m gonna go back and sort Aldo out’ – and he will and he could do it. Like, he could definitely make that weight. It is hard, it’s difficult, but he could do it. And the last weight cut against Aldo was the best cut he’s ever had to 145. Like, it was the best that I’ve ever seen him. The comparison between that and the (Chad) Mendes (fight), just the difference, it was just a complete – the Aldo weight cut was perfect and he was in great form for the cut and everything. So he can do it and the last one he’s done was perfect, so he could do it again. But who knows. Who knows what’s around the corner. I never know. That’s what’s so exciting about being part of Conor’s team, you never know what’s next. Like, you really don’t. After the Diaz fight, I was like, we’ll go back down and do Aldo or we might do Diaz again, and then the Alvarez thing popped up and now that’s what we’re doing. Now it’s New York and it’s crazy, it’s exciting and it’s unbelievable. But that’s the road we’re all on with Conor. Like, who knows where were going next? It’s great.”
Formerly the undisputed UFC and WEC featherweight champion, Jose Aldo has suffered through some hard times lately. Until facing Conor McGregor at UFC 194, ‘Scarface’ was undefeated in 10 years. He was the only ever featherweight champion, and Aldo’s reputation was that of the greatest ever at 145 pounds. Sharing a vicious rivalry with ‘The
Formerly the undisputed UFC and WEC featherweight champion, Jose Aldo has suffered through some hard times lately. Until facing Conor McGregor at UFC 194, ‘Scarface’ was undefeated in 10 years. He was the only ever featherweight champion, and Aldo’s reputation was that of the greatest ever at 145 pounds. Sharing a vicious rivalry with ‘The Notorious,’ the Brazilian striker finally faced off against the Irishman after more than a year in the making. 13 seconds after the fight started, Aldo’s future became uncertain.
Knocked out by a straight left counter from McGregor, Aldo had lost the belt he’d held for so long. Talks of a rematch were down trodden when ‘The Notorious’ was granted a lightweight title fight against Rafael dos Anjos. The 155-pound champ of the time pulled out, replaced by Nate Diaz on 10 days notice. The ensuing submission loss to Diaz led to a rematch for McGregor, once again at welterweight. In the meantime Jose Aldo would defeat Frankie Edgar for the interim featherweight title. Once McGregor defeated Diaz in the rematch at UFC 202, it seemed a unification match would be next.
Nope
When the tables were turned and Jose Aldo pulled out of UFC 189, Conor McGregor won the interim belt against Chad Mendes. Now with ‘Scarface’ holding the junior title, McGregor won’t be coming back down to unify. Eddie Alvarez was announced as the Irish star’s next opponent. McGregor faces ‘The Silent Assassin’ for the lightweight title at UFC 205. The decision was met with fierce opposition by Aldo, who immediately demanded a release from his UFC contract.
The Brazilian had seen enough, claiming the sport was being turned in to a ‘circus,’ and the promotion was showing double standards all over the place. Irate that his promised rematch would once again not come to fruition, ‘Scarface’ claimed he had no intention of even fighting MMA again, let alone for the UFC.
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According to a post shared by Tap.Nap.Snapon Facebook, Jose Aldo isn’t letting this go. Furthering his damning statements after the UFC 205 announcement, Aldo claims the future of the UFC is a place he does not want to go.
“I hear a lot of people say the reason I don’t call the shots and that I’m not happy with my income is that I don’t sell fights. People have said that to me and they’ve said it about me. I’ve heard people say, ‘Jose needs to be a better marketer; he needs to sell his fights more.’ But that’s not the philosophy I was raised with. My coach is a martial artist. I’m a martial artist. What we do starts with respect.
Where the sport is going is not respectful. The people who are selling fights are people who are giving each other the middle finger, throwing objects at press conferences, getting caught snorting cocaine and making headlines for all kinds of wrong reasons. What I was taught and what I believe in is, I do my best inside the cage. I believe people want to watch me for my ability as an athlete. … If the direction the sport is going is you’ve got to make headlines for the wrong reasons in order to be worthy of respect and in order to be worthy of the right income, it’s not something I’ll ever be on board with.”
No prizes for guessing who he’s referring to there. Agree or disagree, you have to at least respect Jose Aldo for sticking to his guns.
The UFC 205 press conference that took place earlier last week presented many stories for the mixed martial arts (MMA) world, and the one story that everyone is buzzing about right now is Conor McGregor. McGregor will challenge UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez in the massive MSG card’s main event, and the featherweight champion will
The UFC 205 press conference that took place earlier last week presented many stories for the mixed martial arts (MMA) world, and the one story that everyone is buzzing about right now is Conor McGregor.
McGregor will challenge UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez in the massive MSG card’s main event, and the featherweight champion will be targeting his second title under the promotion’s banner, attempting to be the first man to hold two titles in different weight classes at the same time.
During the exchange between McGregor and Alvarez at the press event Alvarez mentioned his coach Mark Henry, to which McGregor exclaimed ‘F*ck Mark Henry’ most likely due to Henry’s criticisms of McGregor and his team in the past.
Henry, who was in attendance for the press event, told MMA Fighting that he really couldn’t blame McGregor for his comments towards him:
“I was a little upset with myself because, for over a decade being affiliated with guys in the UFC and any organization for that matter, I try to be a good example for my fighters, for my kids and especially as a coach,” Henry said.
“Guys that I look up to like Renzo [Gracie] and Ricardo [Almeida] and Nick Catone, and outside of our thing, like Greg [Jackson] and Wink and Brandon Gibson, so many good guys, John Crouch. I don’t know one coach I don’t get along with.
“I talked about a fighter when I shouldn’t have, and I really felt bad about it. I don’t think I have any business talking about a fighter. And whatever Conor had to say to me I think I deserve it or more. Whatever he said…I deserve more than that.”
McGregor has yet to defend his 145-pound title since winning it in December of last year when he knocked out Jose Aldo in 13-seconds in their main event meeting at UFC 194.
Henry would compare his daughter’s reluctance to give up her ‘binkie’ and ‘baba’ as a young child to McGregor’s reluctance to defend the featherweight title or just drop it altogether:
“Everybody keeps stoking up Conor so much, but Frankie is also trying to go for his second belt, too, and this guy — the thing with my daughter growing up, she was a great kid, but she wanted the baba and the binkie and the blankie (and) she was scared,” Henry said.
“She just wouldn’t get rid of it and held on tight to that. And I think Conor needs to let go of that baba and the binkie and just let go of the 145-pound title.”
Aside from all of the sour words, Henry claims he has nothing but respect for the Irishman, who he believes (aside from his own fighters) is the best striker in MMA today:
“I’ve got nothing but respect for Conor,” he said. “He’s an amazing fighter, and besides my guys where I’m going to be biased, I think he’s the best striker in MMA. I think he’s gotten better in different areas, I have nothing but the utmost respect for him and just what’s he’s done in this sport. And not just in the sport, but personality wise.”
The past year the UFC has been booking McGregor in bouts that will make the cash boat overflow, rather than cater to the UFC rankings and depriving fighters of their opportunities at the featherweight throne.
Henry, who feels sorry for the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Jose Aldo who have been side-stepped of their respective title opportunities, can’t blame ‘The Notorious One’ for doing what’s best for his bank account:
“You can’t blame him,” he said. “My kid is going to do as much as I’ll allow him to do when he’s five. He’s going to take it and he should. That’s where that’s at, I don’t blame him for that. It just sucks for Frankie at 45 wondering where the hell things are going.
I feel horrible for Jose, I mean I feel bad for him. And I feel bad for Khabib too, I really do. But that’s the way it’s done now. It’s done with [Dan] Henderson fighting [Michael] Bisping, and Conor fighting two meaningless fights, Ronda [Rousey] coming back a year-and-a-half, two years later, fighting for the title. CM Punk fighting, it’s crazy.”
While McGregor is known for his notorious ability to get inside of the heads of his opponents with his mental warfare, Henry believes that Alvarez won’t be affected by the featherweight champs witty antics:
“From my end I have nothing but kind words to say to the coaches and to Conor, like I’ve tried to do through my whole coaching time,” Henry said. “But I cannot promise the same for Eddie. But here’s one thing I will say about Eddie man. This stuff does not phase this kid in the least.
He laughs his butt off. Even when in the title fight to him, I turn to Marlon Moraes in the corner with us, I turn to him two hours before the fight, and I said, does this dude know he’s fighting for the title, or does he think he’s going to the movies with his wife? He calms you down so much.”
McGregor and Alvarez will meet in the main event of UFC 205 live on pay-per-view (PPV), from the Madison Square Garden arena in New York City on November 12, 2016.
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McGregor has yet to defend his 145-pound title since winning it in December of last year when he knocked out Jose Aldo in 13-seconds in their main event meeting at UFC 194.
Henry, who feels sorry for the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Jose Aldo who have been side-stepped of their respective title opportunities, can’t blame ‘The Notorious One’ for doing what’s best for his bank account: