Report: UFC Upset With Conor McGregor’s ‘Attitude’ Heading Into UFC 229

The UFC isn’t happy with Conor McGregor’s attitude before UFC 229.

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The UFC is reportedly upset with Conor McGregor’s ‘attitude’ heading into his awaited return.

The superstar will face lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov at October 6’s UFC 229. The fight is McGregor’s first trip back to the cage since his TKO victory over Eddie Alvarez in November 2016. McGregor won the 155-pound title but was stripped due to inactivity.

‘The Eagle’ now holds the belt after defeating Al Iaquinta at April’s UFC 223. McGregor was arrested for his now-infamous bus attack at the Barlcays Center in Brooklyn. He reached a plea deal on assault charges last month. His massive return was announced before August 4’s UFC 227 from Los Angeles, California.

Lack Of Hype

The hype for what many are calling the biggest fight in UFC history hasn’t seemingly gone into overdrive just yet, however. McGregor has been largely unseen despite only the fact five weeks remain until the bout. Apparently, that’s causing discord with his employers. The UFC is frustrated with his attitude according to f4wonline.com (via MMA Mania):

“One of the reasons you haven’t seen much in the way of interviews and such is that McGregor has not agreed to do anything. There are no press conferences scheduled because McGregor at this point hasn’t agreed to them. There is a lot of frustration within the UFC about McGregor’s attitude, but in the end, he’s got the leverage and the ticket sales and secondary market results only give him more leverage.

The feeling is that this may be the biggest non-boxing PPV of all-time, and the only reason it wouldn’t be is that McGregor hasn’t been pushing it hard. McGregor was able to get a larger piece of the action for this fight than any of his UFC fights to date, so there is a direct correlation more than ever between his work in promoting the fight and his pocket book, but this may also show that he knows he’s in a real fight and doesn’t want to break training.”

McGregor may just be focused on training to beat the undefeated Nurmagomedov. He did the same thing prior to his UFC 202 rematch with Nate Diaz after losing their first fight. ‘The Eagle’ is being deemed McGregor’s toughest challenge in the octagon. The likewise could be said for the champion because of McGregor’s otherworldly striking accuracy and power.

Record-Setting Potential

The megafight is being discussed as the first UFC fight to earn 2 million buys on pay-per-view. That would be a record by a large margin. If the fight fails to reach its record-setting potential, many will point to the lack of promotion as the reason.

McGregor’s rematch with Diaz at UFC 202 in 2016 drew a reported 1.6 million buys to stand as the current record-holder. It would seem Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor would break that rather easily based on the situation. Were the fight not to reach 2 million buys, at least some disappointment would foster for the UFC. The promotion needs a massive pay-per-view more than ever during a year of struggling PPV sales and television ratings.

That’s why they need McGregor promoting the fight. He simply may not be willing to at this point.

Does the UFC have a right to be upset with Conor McGregor’s attitude heading into UFC 229?

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Anthony Pettis Claims he’s Over Mental Block Heading Into UFC 229

Former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis feels as he has a new chapter in his pro-MMA career after struggling. Pettis has been on a roller coaster ride over his last few bouts. Since dropping the lightweight title to Rafael Dos Anjos back in March of…

Former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis feels as he has a new chapter in his pro-MMA career after struggling. Pettis has been on a roller coaster ride over his last few bouts. Since dropping the lightweight title to Rafael Dos Anjos back in March of 2015, he has suffered four losses in six fights. Part of […]

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Anthony Pettis Has Overcome “Mental Block” Ahead Of Tony Ferguson Fight

Is the old “Showtime” finally back?

The post Anthony Pettis Has Overcome “Mental Block” Ahead Of Tony Ferguson Fight appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Anthony Pettis has overcome the “mental block” that has affected him recently.

Once-upon-a-time Pettis was sitting on top of the mixed martial arts (MMA) world. He reigned as the UFC’s lightweight champion in the midst of a five-fight win streak. Unfortunately for “Showtime,” that came crashing down when he went up against Rafael dos Anjos.

“RDA” dethroned Pettis in dominant fashion back in March of 2015. The Brazilian put on a dominant five round thrashing of Pettis en-route to a lightweight title win. After the loss, Pettis went on to lose two more.

He has had a very up-and-down record in the past three years. Pettis recently told Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show that his defeat to dos Anjos was a rude awakening (quotes via ESPN):

“RDA was the better man that night. I finally admitted it to myself,” Pettis said. “I was on top of the world and then that happens to you. I’ve never even been hit in any of my fights, basically. Then the RDA fight happens and you have to readjust.”

As for Pettis’ rollercoaster of a career following his loss to “RDA,” the 31-year-old explained he was dealing with a “mental block” he couldn’t get past:

”It’s a mental block. You know what happened and want to get past it, but you also know how good you are and it’s a battle in your own head that you had to figure out.”

Pettis really looked like “Showtime” in his last outing. He submitted jiu-jitsu specialist Michael Chiesa in the second round of their UFC 226 fight in July. That performance did enough to earn him a fight with returning former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson.

They will meet on the main card of what could be the biggest MMA event of all time – UFC 229. The action goes down on October 6th in Las Vegas and is main evented by Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor for the lightweight title:

“I love it,” Pettis said. “I think he has a great fighting style. He’s one of the guys who comes and brings it. I’m excited to get in there with a guy like that. He’s going to try to finish the fight, and that’s what I’m trying to do the whole time.”

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Kevin Lee Provides In-Depth Prediction to Khabib vs. Conor

Stopping by MMA SiriusXM on MMAJunkie radio, Kevin Lee provided an in-depth breakdown the blockbuster Khabib/McGregor UFC 229 bout as a spectator and an analysis. In doing so, Lee concluded that things will most likely not go the way of the Eagle come …

Stopping by MMA SiriusXM on MMAJunkie radio, Kevin Lee provided an in-depth breakdown the blockbuster Khabib/McGregor UFC 229 bout as a spectator and an analysis. In doing so, Lee concluded that things will most likely not go the way of the Eagle come October 6th. “I’m just looking at that matchup and how their styles […]

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Floyd Mayweather Responds to Conor McGregor’s Refusal to Train

On Tuesday Floyd Mayweather offered some training time to Conor McGregor to help him prepare for Khabib Nurmagomedov. While it has been a year since the two met in the boxing ring where Mayweather beat the well-known Irish MMA fighter it seems the two …

On Tuesday Floyd Mayweather offered some training time to Conor McGregor to help him prepare for Khabib Nurmagomedov. While it has been a year since the two met in the boxing ring where Mayweather beat the well-known Irish MMA fighter it seems the two men never pass up an opportunity to remind finds about their high […]

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UFC 229 Projected to Break Nevada Live Gate Record

Tickets for UFC 229 have been on sale for one week now and it is already reported to be the second most in-demand ticket in the history of the promotion. This should come as no surprise, as it features the return of the biggest superstar in the history…

Tickets for UFC 229 have been on sale for one week now and it is already reported to be the second most in-demand ticket in the history of the promotion. This should come as no surprise, as it features the return of the biggest superstar in the history of the promotion, Conor McGregor, after a […]

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