“The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz has had a highly publicized history with UFC President Dana White, but while talking with the SiriusXM Rush Fight Club recently, Ortiz admitted that UFC would “completely fail” without White at the helm.
“I …
“The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz has had a highly publicized history with UFC President Dana White, but while talking with the SiriusXM Rush Fight Club recently, Ortiz admitted that UFC would “completely fail” without White at the helm.
“I think the promotion would completely fail. I think it would crash and burn, that’s my opinion,” said Ortiz while talking with RJ Clifford and Steve Cofield. “I think Dana does a great job with the promotion. Sometimes we don’t agree on the same things but that’s just between me and him. Like I say, it’s a girlfriend-boyfriend type of relationship, him being the girlfriend of course.”
Ortiz continued, “Dana does a great job with what he does and that’s why the company is worth four billion dollars. Lorenzo [Fertitta] has stepped in and is doing an amazing job – from stepping down from Station Casinos – for what he does now. And giving the opportunity to Cris, I’m very thankful for that. But at the end of the day this is a business to them and if they’re able to sell it off for four billion, do what’s needed. I gave my heart and soul, blood, sweat, and tears to the company. I’ve gone on with my business and that’s the way it is.
“I think if the Chinese company didn’t bring Dana in it would crash and burn. It would be a lost cause but I guess it’s up to Dana to make those decisions.”
While Ortiz no longer has the cast of top-tier talent to fight like he did when he was in the UFC, he still sees some challenges on the horizon for him in the Bellator MMA organization.
“Royce Gracie is here, he’s competing,” said Ortiz. “He just stopped Ken Shamrock super quick. I think that would be a fun fight. I got caught with a submission by a black belt, Liam McGeary. Royce Gracie’s a black belt. Can he catch me? That’s a question. We’re both old pioneers of the sport, legends of the sport. I think the names would sell. Let’s give the fans something exciting.”
While talking with Ariel Helwani for “The MMA Hour” at MMAFighting.com recently, longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan made it clear he would be hanging up his headset if the company were to be sold, as has been rumored in recent weeks.
In a new interv…
While talking with Ariel Helwani for “The MMA Hour” at MMAFighting.com recently, longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan made it clear he would be hanging up his headset if the company were to be sold, as has been rumored in recent weeks.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Rogan elaborated on his previous comments about potentially walking away from his job as commentator for the UFC, something he still might do when his current contract with the company expires in August.
“I’m not working for anybody else. If the sale goes through I’m outta there,” said Rogan in response to a recent rumor that UFC is currently up for sale. “I’m already wondering whether or not I can continue doing this as it is. I will always be a fan, I’ll always love it, but sh*t, I’ve been working for the UFC on and off for almost 20 years. And that’s more than I’ve done anything in my life. I’d like to move on.”
Rogan continued, “The only other thing I’ve done longer than that is stand-up comedy, but you know, with stand-up comedy I’m constantly writing new material, I’m traveling, I do it out of my schedule, I do it whenever I want,” added Rogan. You know, it’s a very different thing calling fights rather than just being a fan. I’ll always be a fan, for sure, but as far as calling fights…boy, I don’t see that going on very much longer.”
During the interview, Rogan, a fight-fan at heart, also gave his take on the ongoing rumors about a potential boxing match between reigning UFC Featherweight Champion “The Notorious” Conor McGregor and former boxing pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr.
“If it does happen, I’ll be shocked,” said Rogan. “I mean, if that’s what they’re meeting about, if Conor says, “I can make a lot of money,” and they get together and they decide they’re gonna make 100 million bucks, who knows? I mean, maybe the UFC co-promotes it with Floyd Mayweather and Conor goes in there and gets lit up, and then says, “Hey, I realize this is not my sport, I gotta go back to MMA,” then that’s possible too. I just can’t imagine a world where he’s quitting.”
Arguably UFC’s two biggest current stars, and perhaps the two biggest UFC stars of all-time, reigning UFC Featherweight Champion “The Notorious” Conor McGregor and former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion “Rowdy” Ronda …
This will get people talking.
Arguably UFC’s two biggest current stars, and perhaps the two biggest UFC stars of all-time, reigning UFC Featherweight Champion “The Notorious” Conor McGregor and former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey recently faced-off for a photo shoot for the UFC.
The story behind the McGregor-Rousey photo, which is apparently from a legitimate photo shoot, is not yet clear, however you can check out the cool photo below.
As noted, McGregor met with UFC officials this past week after a fallout with management regarding plans for the UFC 200 event in July.
Meanwhile, Rousey is expected to make her long-awaited Octagon return at some point in the near future. She last fought for the UFC back in November of 2015, where she was knocked out in her first and only pro defeat to Holly Holm in Melbourne, Australia.
Well, it’s not $100 million, but it’s still a lot of money.
After reigning UFC Featherweight Champion “The Notorious” Conor McGregor told ESPN that he would be “talking $100 million,” not $7 million, for a proposed boxing bout with Floyd Mayweather …
Well, it’s not $100 million, but it’s still a lot of money.
After reigning UFC Featherweight Champion “The Notorious” Conor McGregor told ESPN that he would be “talking $100 million,” not $7 million, for a proposed boxing bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr., Mayweather struck back with a better offer.
TMZ is reporting that Mayweather is now offering McGregor a $50 million payday for a boxing match against him in Las Vegas, Nevada on New Year’s Eve.
This story keeps getting crazier and crazier! Of course, we will keep you posted as the latest crazy updates on this story become available.
In addition to opening up about his “publicized civil war” with UFC management to ESPN on Sunday morning, UFC Featherweight Champion “The Notorious” Conor McGregor also addressed the recent talk about a potential boxing match between he and boxing’s fo…
In addition to opening up about his “publicized civil war” with UFC management to ESPN on Sunday morning, UFC Featherweight Champion “The Notorious” Conor McGregor also addressed the recent talk about a potential boxing match between he and boxing’s former pound-for-pound king and undisputed top draw Floyd Mayweather Jr.
“It was him that leaked the rumor,” McGregor said. “He gets $100 million, and I get $7 million? That is a pay cut to me. I don’t take pay cuts. I thought boxing was where the money was at. Seven million is absolutely laughable. He’s talking $100 million. I’m also talking $100 million. I’m 27 years of age and I’m just about halfway through a $100 million contract.”
McGregor continued, breaking down the financial side of the rumors regarding a proposed bout with “Money” Mayweather.
“At 27 years of age, Floyd Mayweather was on Oscar de la Hoya’s undercard. Compare that. Who doesn’t want to conquer both worlds? He’s getting old now. I have the size, I have the reach, I have the height. I have the youth. He needs me, I don’t need him. That’s the truth of it. Who else he can fight? He fights someone else in the boxing realm, all of a sudden the pay goes from $100 million to $15 million. He needs me. If he wants to talk, we can talk, but it’s me who is in control here.”
As McGregor explained, he doesn’t necessarily care about the fact that the rumored bout would be under boxing rules, not the MMA rules he has mastered throughout his professional career.
“I don’t really care about rules,” McGregor said. “He can make all the rules he wants. I know he will not want to fight in a mixed martial arts contest in a true fight. If he wants to fight in a limited fight, that’s no problem we can do that. I will set a aside the many forms of fighting that I practice in and I will focus on one particular craft.”
H/T to MMAFighting.com for transcribing the above Conor McGregor quotes.
On Sunday, reigning UFC Featherweight Champion “The Notorious” Conor McGregor opened up with ESPN about what he is calling a “publicized civil war” he has been having with UFC management.
As McGregor explained, there was a lot going on, and all he really wanted to do was properly train for a 170-pound immediate rematch with the first man to beat him inside the Octagon, Nate Diaz.
“I was in a time where I was like, figuring out something,” McGregor said. “I didn’t just shut out and say no to everything. I just wanted to do reasonable media, and then, hey, all of a sudden, ‘Conor, it’s three months from the fight, we’ve got to drag you (onto) 40-hour flights to come and do a runaround, New York, Vegas, California, 70 press conferences, 70 talk shows, adverts, all of this,’ and it’s like, I already made you $400 million last week. That was only last week, that fight. I need to get right.”
McGregor continued, “That’s how it all came about. I just wanted to focus and I was deep in the process, and especially at that particular moment, I just wanted a little bit more time. I didn’t shut it off completely. Reasonable media, is what I said. I said I would do New York. I said I would do everything else after that. I just needed another little bit to set myself, and then the lack of communication, they weren’t having it. They were trying to push back on me, I was trying to push back on them, and look, it blew up then.”
UFC’s reigning 145-pound champion would go on, explaining that at the start he was basically having some fun, but things got a bit out of hand.
“I’ll tell you what, it blew up,” McGregor said. “I was just kind of having fun at the start. It was kind of half-hearted, and then it just went [crazy], and now all of a sudden you’re off UFC 200, and I was like, ‘alright, well f*ck you too then.’ It was fun. Seeing it all blow up like that, it was amusing for a while.
“There were times when I was … seeing the press conferences take place, and I was like, ah, I should’ve just jumped on the damn flight. I should’ve just stuck it out and went with it. But sometimes you’ve gotta do what’s right for you, and not do what’s right for everybody else — and especially if you’ve done what’s right for everybody else a million times over, you should have the right to be able to do what’s right for you sometimes. That’s what I felt.”
According to “The Notorious” one, he left things between he and the UFC “in a good place.”
“I’m committed to the fight game,” McGregor said. “I enjoy competition. I enjoy challenges. So, if a challenge is in front of me, and it appeals to me, then I will go and I will conquer it. I’m open to challenges. I enjoy fighting, period.”
H/T to MMAFighting.com for transcribing the above Conor McGregor quotes.
Conor McGregor described the UFC 200 situation with the promotion as a publicised civil war. pic.twitter.com/V41PFU1RZT
On Sunday, reigning UFC Featherweight Champion “The Notorious” Conor McGregor opened up with ESPN about what he is calling a “publicized civil war” he has been having with UFC management.
As McGregor explained, there was a lot going on, and all he really wanted to do was properly train for a 170-pound immediate rematch with the first man to beat him inside the Octagon, Nate Diaz.
“I was in a time where I was like, figuring out something,” McGregor said. “I didn’t just shut out and say no to everything. I just wanted to do reasonable media, and then, hey, all of a sudden, ‘Conor, it’s three months from the fight, we’ve got to drag you (onto) 40-hour flights to come and do a runaround, New York, Vegas, California, 70 press conferences, 70 talk shows, adverts, all of this,’ and it’s like, I already made you $400 million last week. That was only last week, that fight. I need to get right.”
McGregor continued, “That’s how it all came about. I just wanted to focus and I was deep in the process, and especially at that particular moment, I just wanted a little bit more time. I didn’t shut it off completely. Reasonable media, is what I said. I said I would do New York. I said I would do everything else after that. I just needed another little bit to set myself, and then the lack of communication, they weren’t having it. They were trying to push back on me, I was trying to push back on them, and look, it blew up then.”
UFC’s reigning 145-pound champion would go on, explaining that at the start he was basically having some fun, but things got a bit out of hand.
“I’ll tell you what, it blew up,” McGregor said. “I was just kind of having fun at the start. It was kind of half-hearted, and then it just went [crazy], and now all of a sudden you’re off UFC 200, and I was like, ‘alright, well f*ck you too then.’ It was fun. Seeing it all blow up like that, it was amusing for a while.
“There were times when I was … seeing the press conferences take place, and I was like, ah, I should’ve just jumped on the damn flight. I should’ve just stuck it out and went with it. But sometimes you’ve gotta do what’s right for you, and not do what’s right for everybody else — and especially if you’ve done what’s right for everybody else a million times over, you should have the right to be able to do what’s right for you sometimes. That’s what I felt.”
According to “The Notorious” one, he left things between he and the UFC “in a good place.”
“I’m committed to the fight game,” McGregor said. “I enjoy competition. I enjoy challenges. So, if a challenge is in front of me, and it appeals to me, then I will go and I will conquer it. I’m open to challenges. I enjoy fighting, period.”
H/T to MMAFighting.com for transcribing the above Conor McGregor quotes.
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