Dana White denied today that money had anything to do with the situation with Conor McGregor and UFC 200, but also admitted that the McGregor vs. Nate Diaz fight could still be saved and said he believed McGregor would fight for the UFC again within the next year.
White appeared this afternoon on the Colin Cowherd show on FS 1 and said, “It’s not a money issue. That’s false. That’s the problem with the Internet. Never ever was this about money. Conor makes a lot of money and he’s very happy with the money he makes.”
He said McGregor has never come back after agreeing to a deal and looked for more money.
White claimed the entire issue is that McGregor refused to come to Las Vegas this weekend for promotional purposes. White said they were going to shoot the television commercial and have press conferences in three cities, starting in Las Vegas, and then he’d be able to return to Iceland and train for the fight, noting it’s not like they were asking him three weeks before the fight to break camp.
White claimed that in a conversation with McGregor’s manager, he was asked to move this to May and White said that they were spending $10 million promoting the show and the money is in motion.
“It never got combative,” said White. “I was talking to his manager. They were asking, `Let’s move all this to May.’ You can’t move it. This stuff is in motion.”
“I’m not mad, even a little bit,” said White to Cowherd, who said that White didn’t appear to be mad yesterday when they were together. “You were with me yesterday, did I seem mad? It’s UFC 200. It’s a massive fight. Believe me, when Conor went out, ten other people called asking to come in.”
“Obviously Conor made a decision and made a choice to not want to fight on this card. And that’s how he gets paid. That’s on him. The show will go on.”
White said that McGregor does have to clear up the retirement talk, noting that if McGregor says he’s retired, then the UFC 200 fight with Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar would be for the featherweight title and not, as it stands right now, the interim title.
Paris, France – a small country located in, what is commonly and locally known as the European Union, or more simply, the EU. A black van pulls up to the curb, and out walks four women in black dresses. The Bellas, Eva Marie, and Natalya are finally at the restaurant from Something’s Gotta Give. The girls propose a toast, to the four originals. A beautiful French man hits on them and quickly walks away. And just as fast as they entered the restaurant, they are out of the restaurant. I have to admit I am pretty bummed that we didn’t even get to finish watching them drink at least one glass of that French wine.
The girls walk over to the Eiffel Tower. They seem to be under the spell of some sort of pagan superstition and believe that if one makes a wish upon the Eiffel Tower at night then the wish will come true. The girls are amazed at the site of the Eiffel Tower again, and Nikki makes her wish. “I wish John Cena will marry me.” The American dream.
Nattie then makes her wish. She wishes TJ to be there with her. Eva Marie wishes something about love and Jonathan. Brie wishes for Bryan to be cleared because she believes in his dreams. Nikki tells everyone that John Cena wants to marry her, but he still doesn’t want to have kids.
It’s the daytime now, and Paige, Fox, and Mandy are talking about last night. Mandy has a hat that says, “Paris.” I’d buy that hat, too. She’s still so pissed that Eva Marie went to dinner with the Bellas. Mandy is the ultimate third wheel.
Rosa and her fiancé decide to celebrate their impending nuptials by sight-seeing around Paris. Rosa wants to go to some kind of arch. Her fiancé, his name is Bobby, thinks she is talking about Noah’s Ark. If only there were some sort of famous triumphant Arch in Paris that would be easy for Rosa to look up on her phone. Rosa asks when the wedding will be. Bobby redirects the question. Rosa says six months. Bobby says six months from when the baby is born. Rosa says get married by a minister. Bobby says he wants Brad to perform the ceremony. They start to argue and then decide to not talk about it anymore.
A beautiful French man takes a picture with Paige and tells her she is crazy. Fox decides to plan an impromptu party at the hottest party venue in the world, Moulin Rouge. She has a fantasy that the other Divas will dress up in French fashion, and she will be the photographer. Fox overhears Nattie telling Mandy that the fashion photo shoot is stupid. Fox is so pissed. She goes into Rosa’s room to complain about Nattie. Fox cancels the photo shoot. All the Divas argue in the living room. They work out their issues. The photo shoot is back on. Thank god. They decide to drink that French wine.
Eva Marie apologizes to Mandy in her room. Mandy speaks her mind. She is mega-butthurt. Eva Marie acts pretty classy. But Mandy doesn’t really think Eva Marie is being real, so she responds by lying and telling her they are friends again. Whelp, sorry Mandy, we won’t get to see how this plays out because you won’t be returning next season.
Rosa is so happy to go out with all the girls. They are at a really nice, really fancy French restaurant. Fox gives a speech. Fox loves giving speeches, it’s obvious. All the girls go over to the Moulin Rouge, and they are all super impressed and mega excited. They are so amazed, and they keep saying the word amazed. Nattie tells us how much she loves all the girls, and how important this trip has been.
Back in the states, and keeping with the French theme, the WWE is in New Orleans. Rosa shows Big Show her ring, and Big Show shows Rosa warmth and compassion. She can’t wait to give birth to Baby Jordan. Rosa interviews Dolph Ziggler. Dolph brings this season full circle, as he wasn’t man enough in his attempt to steal Nikki away from Cena. They all eat cake.
TWO MONTHS LATER
Tampa, FL
In Nikki and John’s house, Nikki chases around her cute dog, Winston. Winston is adorable. Nikki’s mom is in town to babysit the dog if Nikki has to have surgery. Nikki tells her mom that she feels like shit every day. She gets an MRI.
Pittsburgh, PA
Rosa is having cramping, she’s in a ton of pain. She and Bobby go to the hospital. Rosa decides to leave her Rolex at Bobby’s parents’ house. After the commercial, Rosa has had her baby. The baby is cute. Rosa feels so emotional. Rosa wishes her mom was there. Rosa and her mom are at odds due to Bobby’s atheism.
Back in Tampa, Nikki tells her mom that her back is getting worse. Everything is worse than they originally thought. She has to have surgery. She doesn’t want to retire from wrestling. She is in so much pain all the time. She is so frustrated.
In Pittsburgh, Rosa feeds her baby. Bobby is so excited and completely anxious. Rosa hasn’t heard from her mom in two months. Rosa says she could move to Pittsburgh. Bobby tells her that while she can’t go down the street and get a kale juice, but she can go down the street and milk a cow. Rosa said she’d rather just feed the baby. They get in a car and Rosa sees a frozen lake. She is amazed. Rosa’s mom told her to tell her baby that she is going to burn in hell. Bobby is so pissed at Rosa’s mom.
Columbus, OH
Nikki has a meeting with Carrano. John calls her from Tampa. Cena is hanging out with Nikki’s mom, and he tells her not to worry about Carrano. He apologizes for not being there, but he just had surgery himself.
Back in Pittsburgh, Bobby and Rosa look at baby Jordan. Rosa wants to move to Pittsburgh. She is happy there. I’m not worried about them, they are going to be OK as a family.
Back in Columbus, it’s time for the meeting with Carrano. They make jokes about business casual dress codes. Then things get serious. They don’t know what the future looks like. Is Nikki done? Could this be it for her? Nikki asks, “What is Nikki Bella without wrestling?” She answers, “There is no Nikki Bella.” It’s a race for survival, if she can’t wrestle again, then not only will she be forced to retire, but it seems as though Nikki Bella will cease to exist all together.
The Bryan & Vinny & Craig Show is back today with RETRO RAW AND RETRO NITRO! Raw is 1,000 times better than last week, a somewhat famous show where Steve Austin breaks Bret Hart’s leg to set up a bunch of different feuds and angles. Nitro was a wacky show with the return of JJ Dillon, a hilarious Meng vs. Jericho match and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Submitted by Stephen Lyon from Manchester, UK’s Manchester Arena
– Cesaro beat Stardust
Cesaro won, following 10 giant swings & making him submit in the sharpshooter. Fun 10 minute opener.
– Zack Ryder & Darren Young beat Heath Slater & Bo Dallas
Finish saw Ryder pin Dallas with the Rough Ryder. Exactly what you’d think it would be.
– Rusev beat Jack Swagger
Swagger came out with the Union Jack flag. Rusev won with the Accolade submission win. Average match.
– WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day beat Usos & Dudleys
Fun match, one of the best on the show. Dudleys came out with a Liverpool FC flag in Manchester to get heat (soccer rivals, plus Bubba is a Liverpool fan). New Day’s house show act is great. All sorts of wackiness from the trio, mostly weird dance moves.
– Sin Cara beat Tyler Breeze
SC won after hitting the swanton bomb. Average match.
– Divas Champion Charlotte beat Sasha Banks & Becky Lynch
Ric Flair was in Charlotte’s corner. Fun match. Charlotte pinned Becky with both feet on the ropes.
– WWE Champion Roman Reigns beat Sheamus
Sheamus came out and did a promo based on the Liverpool/Manchester soccer rivalry, and even sang the Liverpool FC club anthem (“You’ll Never Walk Alone”) to major heat. Reigns still came out to boos, I’d say 60/40 cheers in his favour. Standard match, Reigns won after a spear.
Notes:
It was a by the numbers house show with nothing spectacular. Obviously, there were less stars than usual due to the Smackdown tapings going on at the same time in London. But still, we got the World, Tag & Women’s champions so it wasn’t that bad. Lots of kids in attendance. Reigns got 60-40 cheers. Booing him is definitely becoming the cool thing to do, even for the kids/families that Reigns claimed he was being targeted to.
In other news, the U.K. dates for the November 2016 tour have been announced:
4th November – London (Wembley Arena)
5th November – Manchester
6th November – Newcastle & Leeds
7th November – Glasgow – Raw TV
8th November – Glasgow – Smackdown TV
9th November – Birmingham
10th November – Cardiff
Tickets are on sale starting Friday, May 6.
The notable things here are that they are doing TV from Glasgow, Scotland for the first time ever, at the Hydro Arena. This is really interesting because they’re running the Hydro Arena building less than 2 weeks before ICW is running the biggest show in their history at the same arena, which simply can’t be a coincidence.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons of news and notes on Conor McGregor’s alleged retirement, UFC publicly pulling him from UFC 200, ramifications, theories, and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
This edition of the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Audio Show hosted by wrestling historian Karl Stern is a mailbag edition with questions and topics all over the place. There is no one single “big” topic for this episode but some of the conversation includes:
The end of the “Super Stern Stick” flashdrive? Changes are coming and I talk about them. If you’re interested in grabbing one please visit dragonkingkarl.com
I hear about a terrible wrestler I’ve never heard of before. He did a big angle in the Mid-Atlantic area with the late Blackjack Mulligan. He wore an eyepatch and a gangster suit. He broke cinder blocks with his malformed hand. I am making none of this up. Find out who this monster is on today’s show.
There is a question about gloves being used in MMA and boxing.
One of the listeners to the show went to Dallas for WrestleMania and he talks about going to the site of the John F. Kennedy assassination and gives his thoughts on the JFK conspiracy.
The last email on today’s show is a fantastic follow up to Superman vs Batman: Dawn of Sadness. It is probably the best description and review of the movie I have heard thus far. There be spoilers in this here review and I don’t mean Don Jardine.
It’s an all over the board edition of the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Audio Show today. I wish this was more wrestling-centric but shows like this one often turn out to be my most popular ones.
One of the biggest news stories in MMA history continues to evolve as UFC president Dana White announced on ESPN Tuesday night that featherweight champion Conor McGregor is off UFC 200, and that they will soon announce a new main event.
White appeared on ESPNews after hours of silence by UFC in the wake of McGregor’s apparent retirement tweet earlier in the day, and said that McGregor was taken off the card for refusing to come to Las Vegas, NV, for a press conference to promote the show. Obviously, there is far more to that since McGregor was the key to the show.
White claimed that the company and McGregor have a good relationship but “you can’t decide not to show up to these things. You have to do it.”
White described it as that McGregor was training in Iceland and didn’t want to break his preparation for the fight to come to Las Vegas, but regarding whether McGregor has really retired, White said that only McGregor knows for sure.
White said that he would be discussing a new opponent for Diaz on Tuesday, which, given the lay of the land and the show itself, would logically have to be lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. It will be a huge drop in quality and will badly hurt the aura of UFC 200 as the biggest show in history, but it would still be a show with three title matches if that was the case.
Dos Anjos vs. Eddie Alvarez had been announced a few days earlier for a Fight Pass headlining title fight on July 7 in Las Vegas, two days before the UFC 200 July 9 date at the new T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Obviously McGregor is playing it close to the vest and there is a story behind the story, which is already getting the obvious speculation about the sides playing a game of who holds the cards when it comes to a deal.
Both sides would be out millions of dollars if the fight doesn’t happen. UFC can obviously survive the loss, but McGregor has tremendous leverage because the increases in UFC business over the past year are largely due to he and Ronda Rousey. Now, the future of both are speculative.
It is always possible that McGregor will retire, but historically in these circumstances, that isn’t the case. McGregor was live at the show last week where Joao Calvalho passed away, but he had resumed training for the Diaz rematch in Iceland.
Following McGregor’s tweet, John Kavanagh, McGregor’s trainer, as well as other close to the situation, tweeted that McGregor has indeed retired from fighting, shortly before a fight that he had asked for and one that would have garnered him the biggest payday of his career.
– They opened with Miz TV with A.J. Styles. They showed the clips of Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson attacking Roman Reigns. Maryse came out and got heat by speaking in French. Miz brought up that Styles, Gallows and Anderson were all friends from Japan and told Styles to admit to the fact he set up the attack on Reigns. Styles denied it. Miz then asked why he did nothing to stop them if he didn’t set it up. Styles said that he was upset with them and doesn’t need their help to beat Reigns. Miz continued to push the idea that Styles thought he needed help against Reigns. Miz kept pushing Styles to tell the truth. Miz and Maryse got heat again by making out. Eventually, Styles attacked Miz.
– Ryback beat U.S. Champion Kalisto in a non-title match after hitting the Shellshock.
– Dolph Ziggler came out for a match and was attacked by Baron Corbin. He got laid out again with the End of Days.
– A.J. Styles beat The Miz. Miz was taking the worst of it and tried to walk out. Anderson and Gallows came out and blocked him from leaving. Styles threw Miz back in the ring and pinned him after the Phenomenal Forearm.
– Sami Zayn and Dean Ambrose were interviewed. They said Chris Jericho and Dean Ambrose were the best in the world at sneaking up from behind. Zayn & Ambrose then tried to do a comedy bit where they’d come up with a name for their new tag team.
– The Miz did a promo and said what happened earlier was proof Styles, Anderson, and Gallows were all working together. He demanded an investigation and refused to leave the ring until it was done. Shane McMahon then came out. Miz yelled at Shane and put his finger in his chest repeatedly until Shane laid in some punches and a flying back elbow before clotheslining Miz to the outside. This may have been just for the live crowd to give them something since Undertaker wasn’t there as advertised.
Here’s a video of the segment for as long as it stays up:
– Anderson & Gallows did an interview. They were asked if they are aligned with Styles and they said they weren’t. They also said they would be wrestling on Raw Monday night against the Usos.
– Paige & Natalya beat Naomi & Tamina with a double submission win.
– R-Truth pinned Fandango with Goldust as referee. R-Truth and Goldust danced after the match.
– Enzo and Cass came out. The crowd was big time into them. The Vaudevillains then did a promo making fun of Enzo. Good segment building up their match on Raw next week to determine the top contenders for the tag titles.
– Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho beat Sami Zayn & Dean Ambrose. Ambrose was on the top rope and Jericho shoved him off. Ambrose sold it like he had injured his knee and Owens pinned him, which was retribution for Ambrose pinning Owens on Raw.
A cryptic tweet out of nowhere by Conor McGregor has shaken up the MMA world.
McGregor earlier today wrote:
“I have decided to retire young.
Thanks for the cheese.
Catch ya’s later.”
There was nothing more said, no doubt by design.
With Ronda Rousey out of action, McGregor is the key draw for UFC business going into its planned biggest week in history in July when he was the headline UFC 200 against Nate Diaz.
McGregor has been unavailable to media and UFC has not said anything.
Whether this is a negotiating ploy, a legitimate retirement or just his own practical joke that will be explained that he’s always said he doesn’t want to fight a long time is unknown.
McGregor is a big spender, and he was likely to get his biggest paycheck to date for UFC 200. He had talked in the last year about a number of different business plans for the next few years but all of them involved building his name up bigger and continuing to fight.
There will no doubt be more on this as the day progresses.
Going against the NBA playoffs and with a taped show, Raw last night broke a new record for the least watched episode on its regular night outside of football season with 3.32 million viewers.
The show fell victim to a big third hour drop which led to it falling below the previous low mark set on 2/1 at 3.37 million viewers.
Dancing with the Stars, featuring UFC’s Paige VanZant, also had a big drop to 10.95 million viewers.
There were a number of shows during football season last year, as well as the 1/11 show against the college football championship game, that did lower numbers than Raw.
Raw was still the second highest rated show on cable, beating the NBA game on TBS that went head-to-head and did 3.21 million viewers, but falling behind the Warriors-Rockets late game that did 4.42 million viewers.
Keep in mind that the actual viewers of both games would be significantly higher if you included the local market broadcasts of each game.
The seasonal pattern of people tuning in late that comes after Daylight Savings time was in effect, but the pattern that the third hour doesn’t drop as much during that season was not. The first two hours were in the same range as last week, so the record low was entirely due to the big third hour drop.
The three hours were:
8 p.m. 3.49 million viewers 9 p.m. 3.54 million viewers 10 p.m. 2.98 million viewers
