Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. That theory was proven true yet again this week, as the UFC announced UFC Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor vs. UFC Lightweight Eddie Alvarez for Alvarez’s 155-pound title as the main event for the UFC 205 pay…
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. That theory was proven true yet again this week, as the UFC announced UFC Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor vs. UFC Lightweight Eddie Alvarez for Alvarez’s 155-pound title as the main event for the UFC 205 pay-per-view in November.
Originally, it was believed that Alvarez would be defending his title against top-ranked contender Khabib Nurmagomedov at the show, however Alvarez reportedly missed the contract deadline, despite the fact Nurmagomedov claimed that he already signed his bout agreement for the proposed title fight.
And then “The Notorious” one struck.
McGregor took to social media last week and simply wrote, “Beg Me,” a comment directed to either the UFC or Alvarez, likely the former as opposed to the latter, regarding stepping up and fighting Alvarez at the November pay-per-view.
UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor is scheduled to take place at the world-famous Madison Square Garden arena in New York City on Saturday, November 12, 2016. Join us here at MMANews.com on 11/12 for live coverage of the UFC 205 PPV!
Let the games begin. The UFC has officially confirmed that UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor will be taking on Eddie Alvarez at the UFC’s massive Madison Square Garden event at UFC 205 for the 155-pound title. UFC President Dana White confirmed the news on Sports Center earlier today: Late Night Breaking News on @notthefakeSVP’s @SportsCenter:
The UFC has officially confirmed that UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor will be taking on Eddie Alvarez at the UFC’s massive Madison Square Garden event at UFC 205 for the 155-pound title.
UFC President Dana White confirmed the news on Sports Center earlier today:
McGregor won the 145-pound championship last December when he defeated former featherweight king Jose Aldo with a thunderous 13-second knockout in the main event of UFC 194.
Following the contest McGregor expressed interest in becoming the promotion’s first dual-weight champion, and would challenge then UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos for the strap at UFC 196.
‘RDA’ would unfortunately pull out of the contest due to injury, opening the door for Nate Diaz to begin his program with the brash Irishman.
Now that things between Diaz and McGregor have seemed to settle down for the time being, ‘The Notorious One’ will once again focus his sights on becoming the first man to ever hold two titles in different weight classes simultaneously, as he will not be stripped of the title he won nearly a year ago:
Conor will retain 145-pound belt through UFC 205, White confirms to Van Pelt. See you guys tomorrow at The Theater @TheGarden!
The task for McGregor won’t be an easy one, however, as Alvarez is coming off of an amazingly impressive performance in which he downed Dos Anjos in the first round to secure the title.
Shortly before McGregor’s scheduled match with ‘RDA’ Alvarez claimed to have had the recipe to expose McGregor once and for all, and now it seems he’ll have the chance to do it on the biggest platform of them all.
No word on if the bout will serve as the card’s main event or not, but it can certainly be assumed that it will.
McGregor and Alvarez will meet at UFC 205 live on pay-per-view (PPV), from the Madison Square Garden arena in New York City on November 12, 2016.
UFC 205 has been subject to so many twists and turns in the recent weeks. Following wide-spread rumours of a main event between Conor McGregor and Eddie Alvarez, things started to get a little confusing. Reported as still injured from UFC 202, McGregor’s part in the New York debut for the UFC was now in
UFC 205 has been subject to so many twists and turns in the recent weeks. Following wide-spread rumours of a main event between Conor McGregor and Eddie Alvarez, things started to get a little confusing. Reported as still injured from UFC 202, McGregor’s part in the New York debut for the UFC was now in question. Following that report, number one contender Khabib Nurmagomedov claimed he would be fighting Alvarez. News then broke that the featherweight champ was in fact uninjured, and still aiming to fight at UFC 205.
Posting pictures of two signed bout agreements on Twitter, ‘The Eagle’ furthered reports that he’d receive the next lightweight title fight. ‘The Silent Assassin’ added to the mix of news by stating he still wanted to fight McGregor. There’s been a number of bouts confirmed for UFC 205 so far, and they are as follows:
Who’s Missing?
UFC welterweight championship: Tyron Woodley vs. Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson
UFC Strawweight championship: Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
Women’s bantamweight: Miesha Tate vs. Raquel Pennington
Welterweight: Kelvin Gastelum vs. Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone
Featherweight: Frankie Edgar vs. Jeremy ‘Lil Heathen’ Stephens
Middleweight: Rashad Evans vs. Tim Kennedy
Lightweight: Thiago Alves vs. Jim Miller
Middleweight: Tim Boetsch vs. Rafael Natal
Woman’s bantamweight: Liz Carmouche vs. Katlyn Chookagian
There’s an announcement set for tomorrow (September 27, 2016) but for the moment, the big names in the recent debate are missing.
Let’s take a look at three HUGE possibilities for UFC 205’s main event…
Eddie Alvarez vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
After two years away from fighting due to multiple injuries, ‘The Eagle’ returned in April of this year. Solidifying his spot as number one lightweight contender, Nurmagomedov defeated Tony Ferguson’s late replacement Darrell Horcher by submission.
Why would this fight be so huge? Aside from it placing rankings above popularity and money, Nurmagomedov is possibly the most dominant lightweight this division has ever seen.
‘The Eagle’ has never lost a round, and comes to completely shut out his opponents. Undefeated at 23-0, many feel Khabib presents the biggest possible challenge to Eddie Alvarez’s lightweight championship. That’s a very real and intriguing prospect. Also worth considering is that ‘RDA’ appeared to be a very dominating force, but ‘the dog’ in Alvarez put that beast to sleep in no time.
Eddie Alvarez vs. Conor McGregor
Swaying away from the rankings, this scrap has all the makings of a pay-per-view record breaker. That said, as fans and pundits, PPV records aren’t exactly paramount, at least not for the purists. But, and it’s a big one, many are interested to see how ‘The Notorious’ will do at 155 pounds. Don’t think for one minute the UFC won’t book this fight either, as UFC 196 was originally meant to feature Rafael dos Anjos against the Irish star for the lightweight belt.
Should McGregor fight his way through the top 10 for a title fight at 155? Many would argue yes, but does this mean we won’t tune in if Alavarez vs. McGregor is announced as the UFC 205 main event?
Back to rankings…
Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo 2
This fight has years of history. After sharing 18 months worth of beef, it took just 13 seconds for Conor McGregor to dethrone Jose Aldo. Claiming the formerly dominant Brazilian’s 145-pound strap, ‘The Notorious’ has spent the last two fights at 170 pounds against Nate Diaz. Many fans and the crop of irate featherweights are calling for McGregor to defend or vacate, so what if it’s the former?
Aldo never really got going in their first meeting, that’s not to say he would in a rematch, but he looked on fire against Frankie Edgar at UFC 200. Now, with the interim strap in hand, the tables have turned on McGregor and Aldo’s rivalry. The Irish star has a junior champion in his midst, and who wouldn’t want to see this fight in the UFC 205 main event?
The state of play in the UFC right now is odd, at best. With so much riding on the UFC’s first visit to New York, things couldn’t have been more confusing if they’d tried. Or at least, perhaps that’s what they’d like us to think. The promotion has been known to throw a few curve
The state of play in the UFC right now is odd, at best. With so much riding on the UFC’s first visit to New York, things couldn’t have been more confusing if they’d tried. Or at least, perhaps that’s what they’d like us to think. The promotion has been known to throw a few curve balls in the past, so maybe the lack of solid news is intentional. Either way, we’ve witnessed quite the circus of headlines this week, and once again Conor McGregor is at the centre of it all.
Following rampant reports of a lightweight title clash between Eddie Alvarez and the featherweight champion, news to the contrary emerged. Top contender Khabib Nurmagomedov claimed he’d signed two contracts to fight Alvarez, but ‘The Silent Assassin’ had not returned the favor. After we heard McGregor was still injured, ‘The Eagle’ vs. Alvarez was near-confirmed by Dana White. Once again conflicting reports threw the media in to a head spin.
The Battle for MSG
The war to headline the historic Madison Square Garden car don November 12 continues. As money and rankings sit on the opposite side of each potential booking, this is truly a pivotal period for the UFC going forward. What about the featherweight division, you ask? Jose Aldo rose to the interim belt at UFC 200 against Frankie Edgar, and now we have the first mention of a unification match from Dana White. The UFC president told Kevin Iole of Yahoo that he fancies McGregor vs. Aldo 2:
“Conor’s foot is hurt, but he thinks he can fight,” White said. “I want him to fight Aldo.”
Simply assessing the complicated scenario in just a few words, Dana White seems to be voicing what many fans are feeling. The purist fans among us still old the rankings as paramount in terms of match making, as does Khabib Nurmagomedov. He also told Yahoo a few home truths on this situation:
The Eagle Speaks
“Alvarez wants to fight McGregor, because it’s an easy fight and it’s a lot of money to fight him,” Nurmagomedov said. “But he has to fight me. Dana White has told me, ‘He is fighting you. He has to fight you.’ His record is only 2-1 in the UFC and he loses like a chicken to Cowboy [Cerrone]. How did he even get a title shot? I don’t know why he is so scared to fight me.”
“I would have to be careful in the first [round] because he does punch hard,” Nurmagomedov said. “In the second, I would start to catch him and in the third, I’d finish him. Mentally, he’s already lost to me.”
“I’ve worked for this title my whole life,” he said. “Madison Square Garden is the biggest arena in the world. Of course I would like to fight there. But Congo, Manila, Russia, Canada, Brazil, I don’t care. All I want is 25 minutes in the cage with Alvarez.”
“Put me in a cage somewhere with him and lock the door. Then I can show the world who the best really is.”
We previously reported that UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk will be defending her title at UFC 205 against Karolina Kowalkiewicz, and it appears another women’s contest has been added to the massive card. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto has confirmed that former UFC 135-pound women’s champion Miesha Tate will make her Octagon return, since suffering a brutal first
We previously reported that UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk will be defending her title at UFC 205 against Karolina Kowalkiewicz, and it appears another women’s contest has been added to the massive card.
ESPN’s Brett Okamoto has confirmed that former UFC 135-pound women’s champion Miesha Tate will make her Octagon return, since suffering a brutal first round loss to current title-holder Amanda Nunes at UFC 200, and will be taking on No. 8-ranked Raquel Pennington:
Tate (18-6) is coming off her first round submission loss to Nunes at UFC 200. Prior to losing her title, however, ‘Cupcake’ was riding an impressive five-fight win streak in which she capped off by defeating Holly Holm at UFC 196 to secure her first career UFC title.
Pennington (8-5) is currently riding a three-fight win streak, not having lost since her split decision defeat to Holly Holm at UFC 184 in February of last year.
With a potential win over Tate at UFC 205, ‘Rocky’ will have to be seriously considered for a shot at the women’s bantamweight title. And with reports of former women’s 135-pound queen Ronda Rousey nearing a deal to return against Nunes this December, the women’s bantamweight title picture is certainly an interesting one.
UFC 205 takes place live on pay-per-view (PPV) form the Madison Square Garden arena, in New York City on November 12, 2016.
It looks as if November 12’s UFC 205 from Madison Square Garden in New York has added another title fight to its card. According to a report from Bloody Elbow, reigning women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk will put her title on the line against fellow polish combatant and No. 2-ranked contender Karolina Kowalkiewicz. “Joanna Champion”
It looks as if November 12’s UFC 205 from Madison Square Garden in New York has added another title fight to its card. According to a report from Bloody Elbow, reigning women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk will put her title on the line against fellow polish combatant and No. 2-ranked contender Karolina Kowalkiewicz.
“Joanna Champion” also took to her official Instagram account to post a picture of herself holding a freshly signed bout agreement:
A photo posted by Joanna Jedrzejczyk (@joannajedrzejczyk) on
Kowalkiewicz currently possesses an undefeated 10-0 professional record as well as a 3-0 record inside the Octagon. She’s picked up victories over Randa Marcos, Heather Clark, and former title challenger Rose Namajunas.
Jedrzejczyk, on the other hand, is also undefeated at 12-0, and has defended her strap three times to date. After destroying former champion Carla Esparza in March 2015, the Polish striker has taken out Jessica Penne, Valerie Letorneau, and Claudia Gadelha, looking more impressive each time out.
UFC 205 will also play host to a welterweight title fight between Tyron Woodley and surging contender Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. Also confirmed for the event is a welterweight bout between Donald Cerrone and Kelvin Gastelum, a featherweight bout between Frankie Edgar and Jeremy Stephens, and a middleweight fight between Rashad Evans and Tim Kennedy.
It’s currently unclear which bout will headline the monumental card.
