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Tag: mcgregor

  • White on McGregor: “It’s not a money issue.  That’s false.”

    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.

  • Conor McGregor possibly teases retirement

    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.

  • Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 2 set for UFC 200, Edgar vs Aldo for interim belt

    UFC announced tonight two main events for UFC 200 as well as a huge advance for UFC 198.

    UFC Tonight released that Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz in a rematch at 170 pounds will headline UFC 200 on 7/9 in Las Vegas at the new T-Mobile Arena.  On the show it was stated that Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta and John Kavanagh, the coach of McGregor, all wanted the fight at 155, but said McGregor insisted on fighting at 170.

    They also announced Frankie Edgar vs. Jose Aldo for the interim featherweight title in another five round fight.  McGregor has not been stripped of the title, but since he’s been inactive, they will have this fight and the winner will unify the title with McGregor at some point.

    At least one more championship fight will be added to the show.

    Other fights announced for UFC 200 are Cain Velasquez vs. Travis Browne in a heavyweight battle where the winner could get a title shot; Joe Lauzon vs. Diego Sanchez; Gegard Mousasi vs. Derek Brunson; Johny Hendricks vs. Kelvin Gastelum and Jim Miller vs. Takanori Gomi.

    Tickets went on sale today for UFC 198, which takes place on 5/14 at the Arena de Baixada in Curitiba, Brazil.  The show, headlined by Fabricio Werdum vs. Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight title had so much demand that ticket outlets crashed but already 38,000 tickets have been sold to the show.  They are looking at a 45,000 capacity for the event.

    The UFC 200 Card so far:

    • Conor McGregor vs Nate Diaz 2
    • Jose Aldo vs Frankie Edgar for the Interim Featherweight Title
    • Travis Browne vs Cain Valesquez
    • Derek Brunson vs. Gegard Mousasi
    • Joe Lauzon vs. Diego Sanchez

  • Nate Diaz vs Conor McGregor rematch in the works for UFC 200

    Ariel Helwani reported this morning that UFC is working toward a rematch with Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz, at welterweight no less, as the main event for UFC 200 on July 9 at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

    Helwani reported the UFC is close to finalizing plans for the match. 

    This would be a major blow to Frankie Edgar, as just last week Dana White indicated the match that made the most sense going forward was McGregor defending the featherweight title against Edgar.  McGregor himself, after his loss to Diaz, said he’d decide whether more people would be interested in Edgar or Jose Aldo, and that’s he was looking at defending his title against one of them.  He gave the impression that he thought Aldo would have more interest but was leery if Aldo wouldn’t pull out before the fight.

    McGregor vs. Diaz would also eliminate the possibility of Robbie Lawler vs. Diaz, a fight that both White and Fertitta talked about for the welterweight title.

    Based on the results of UFC 196, McGregor vs. Diaz would be the best drawing fight for UFC 200 even without a title at stake.  Plus, there would be longer to build the fight.  For McGregor, he’d be facing Diaz with a full camp, making his odds of winning even longer.

    It also puts the featherweight division on hold and almost forces an Aldo vs. Edgar match for the title shot, which would eliminate a contender.

  • VIDEO: UFC 189 Embedded with Conor McGregor