Tag: Conor McGregor

Video: ‘UFC 246 Countdown’ for Conor McGregor vs. Donald Cerrone

Did you miss the debut of “UFC 246 Countdown,” or just want to watch it again? Check out the main event preview now.

Did you miss the debut of “UFC 246 Countdown,” or just want to watch it again? Check out the main event preview now.

The segment takes a special look at the welterweight showdown between former two-division champion [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] (21-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) and ex-lightweight title challenger [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] (36-13 MMA, 23-10 UFC).

UFC 246 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.

“Countdown” goes behind the scenes with the two fighters, and you can watch the full segment above. And don’t miss the entire episode in the video below.

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Check out the entire UFC 246 fight card below:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

  • Conor McGregor vs. Donald Cerrone
  • Holly Holm vs. Raquel Pennington
  • Maurice Greene vs. Aleksei Oleinik
  • Claudia Gadelha vs. Alexa Grasso
  • Diego Ferreira vs. Anthony Pettis

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET)

  • Maycee Barber vs. Roxanne Modafferi
  • Andre Fili vs. Sodiq Yusuff
  • Drew Dober vs. Nasrat Haqparast
  • Grant Dawson vs. Chas Skelly

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+, 6:15 p.m. ET)

  • Aleksa Camur vs. Justin Ledet
  • Askar Askarov vs. Tim Elliott
  • Brian Kelleher vs. Ode Osbourne
  • J.J. Aldrich vs. Sabina Mazo

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Jon Jones backing ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone over Conor McGregor at UFC 246

A host of UFC stars, including champions Jon Jones, Kamaru Usman and Alexander Volkanovski, offer their main event picks ahead of UFC 246.

It’s a fight that has the MMA world talking, and even the pros are split on who will take the victory when [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] and [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] face off at UFC 246 on Saturday.

Here at MMA Junkie, we’ll kick off our 2020 staff picks season when we release our main card predictions Friday. But who do some of the UFC’s biggest stars think will take the win when McGregor and “Cowboy” throw down at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas?

Ahead of the eagerly-anticipated matchup, BT Sport grabbed a host of fighters to get their early takes on who might prevail, and the responses were far from unanimous.

Check out the picks in the video above with a string of UFC stars, including champions Kamaru Usman, Alexander Volkanovski and Jon Jones, plus Max Holloway, Urijah Faber, Marlon Moraes, Mike Perry and Katlyn Chookagian. They offer their predictions ahead of the first big main event clash of 2020.

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Reebok features Conor McGregor in shoe ad as UFC 246 return draws near

Conor McGregor’s image might’ve taken a hit with his troubles in 2019, but he’s got support from a major sponsor in Reebok.

[autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag]’s image might have taken a hit in 2019. But to start 2020, the former UFC two-division champion appears to be on the right track – and he has support from a major sponsor.

McGregor, a former UFC featherweight and lightweight champ, shared an official Reebok video advertisement on Twitter and Instagram last week in which he promotes a line of the company’s sneakers. McGregor teased the shoes would be available Sunday.

The 10-second video spot is the first confirmation that Reebok, in the final year of its apparel partnership with the UFC, stands behind the sport’s biggest star as one of its endorsed athletes despite his troubling 2019.

McGregor’s year included pleading guilty to assault after he was caught on camera sucker-punching a man in an Irish pub. One month prior to that incident, McGregor was caught on camera smashing a man’s cell phone after he tried to take a photo of McGregor outside a Miami hotel; McGregor later settled out of court, and charges were dropped.

In late March, the New York Times reported that McGregor was the subject of a sexual assault investigation in Ireland. Nearly seven months later in October, the newspaper reported that McGregor was being investigated for a second alleged sexual assault in his home country. McGregor has denied the allegations only through his manager, but has yet to comment publicly.

When reached by MMA Junkie, a spokesperson for Reebok declined to comment on its decision to continue doing business with McGregor. “I certainly understand your inquiry, however we’re not going to provide any statement or comment at this time,” the spokesperson said.

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Reebok’s decision on McGregor is a different response to a previous situation the company faced on the subject of sexual assault. In 2013, Reebok parted ways with rapper Rick Ross after lyrics in one of his songs alluded to raping a woman.

McGregor’s Reebok ad drops as he nears his highly anticipated return to the octagon Saturday against Donald Cerrone in the welterweight main event of UFC 246 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It’ll be McGregor’s first fight since October 2018, when he lost by submission to 155-pound champ Khabib Nurmagomedov.

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Conor McGregor relaxed and ready at 170 pounds ahead of UFC 246: ‘This time it’s going to be something special’

Returning superstar Conor McGregor says he’s ready to deliver a spectacular performance against Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 on Jan. 18.

[autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] views his upcoming bout with [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] at UFC 246 is the perfect opportunity to return to action and get the ball rolling ahead of a big year in 2020. And his decision to take the fight at welterweight made total sense for the Dubliner as he bids to kick off his personal fighting “season” with a win on Jan. 18.

McGregor admitted that he had options to consider, with no shortage of potential opponents, plus the choice of weight class, ahead of his octagon return. And, in an interview with ESPN, the Irishman said the decision to fight at 170 pounds was the perfect one for him as he returns for just his second UFC fight since 2016.

McGregor, who said he weighed at “160, 160 and a bit” a week out from his main event clash with Cerrone, admitted he could have called for the fight at 155 pounds, but said he had no qualms about facing “Cowboy” at welterweight.

“I know, I could have (made his life more difficult),” he admitted. “I just don’t think he looks well at 155. He’s a 170 fighter. I’d beat him at any weight. I’d beat him if I had the flu. I don’t need that. I just want to focus on my training and keep me sharp. I don’t want to cut and then build, and then cut. I’m happy where I’m at.”

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Former featherweight and lightweight champion McGregor also said that he sees his return as a welterweight as one that could open up more options for him as 2020 progresses.

“170 is an exciting one for me,” he explained. “I like 170. I like what’s going on in the 170 division at the minute. You’ve got Jorge with that (“BMF”) belt, you’ve got the other guys fighting for the belt. I like all of what’s going on at 170, and I feel good at 170. I feel energetic – it’s what I weigh and that’s it. It opens up so many more options, right?”

And although he’s looking at welterweight options with interest, McGregor made clear that a return to lightweight is always on the cards.

“No, I’m not done at 155. No way,” he said. “I could make 155 for this fight, no problem. But I just want to go in fresh and ‘as it is’. Let the fight play as it is, and then open up all of my options.”

As for the decision to face Cerrone, McGregor said it was a case of returning in a fan-friendly matchup against a fighter he respects.

“Well, I said I would fight him, right?” he said. “Me and Donald have a history. Not a long history, but we’ve had a history. It’s an exciting bout. It’s a fan-friendly bout. It’s a fight that excites me.

“I appreciate Donald, I have to say. He’s fought a lot of times since the last time I saw him, at the Aldo press conference many, many years ago. He’s gone on and fought so many times. He’s also a family man, with his grandmother and these things. I appreciate that. And I also appreciate his method he went about it, with the Proper whiskey. So much work goes into these things – to see that bit of respect, I appreciate that. I look forward to having a good bout.”

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And the returning Dubliner, who has produced a plethora of unforgettable moments inside the octagon during his career, promised another spectacular performance as he looks to kick off the 2020 with a bang in Las Vegas.

“I’m happy to come back and have my comeback fight in the beginning of my season against Donald, and I look forward to it,” he said. “It’s going to be a good night, and I’m going to shine here on Jan. 18. I’m going to create magic inside the octagon, like I have done many times before. But this time it’s going to be something special.”

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UFC 246 Fighter Flashback: Conor McGregor introduces ‘red panty night’ into MMA lexicon

Watch Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone go back and forth in a tense exchange at the UFC “Go Big” press conference in 2015.

Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone will kick off the 2020 UFC pay-per-view schedule Jan. 18 when they headline UFC 246 in Las Vegas. The fight serves as McGregor’s highly anticipated return to the octagon after 14 months, while Cerrone receives the biggest opportunity of his nearly 14-year career. As part of an occasional series ahead of the matchup, let’s flash back to a memorable press conference which marked the day “red panty night” forever became part of the MMA lexicon.

* * * *

[autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] has been years in the making.

The two fighters, who will headline UFC 246 on Jan. 18, have gone after each other not only long before they were booked to fight, but even before they competed in the same weight class.

Back in September 2015 at the UFC “Go Big” press conference, both McGregor (21-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) and Cerrone (36-13 MMA, 23-10 UFC) got into tense exchanges ahead of their respective title fights – McGregor, then the interim featherweight champion facing returning champ Jose Aldo in a unification bout, and Cerrone challenging then-lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos. It was also the birth of one of McGregor’s most memorable lines.

“I can make you rich,” McGregor said to dos Anjos when the Brazilian expressed interest in fighting him. “I change your bum life; you fight, it’s a celebration. When you sign to fight me, it’s a celebration. You ring back home, you ring your wife, ‘Baby, we’ve done it. We’re rich, baby. Conor McGregor made us rich, break out the red panties. We’re rich, baby.’

“So don’t say you would not take that fight, because you would take that fight like everyone else up here would take the fight against me if it was offered regardless of belt or any of that (explicit). I’m the money fight in the male (explicit), at all weight divisions, so (explicit) everybody else.

“It’s red panty night when you sign to fight me, yeah, back at home with your wife. It’s a celebration.”

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And that was when Cerrone dropped his two cents on a potential move to 155 pounds for the Irishman.

“Conor has no right to come up to 155, there’s no way,” Cerrone said. “He’s not going to stand a chance. We’re too big for him, we’re too strong, so you can take your little English ass and get on.”

It was Cerrone’s response that triggered the first heated back-and-forth between the UFC 246 headliners as seen in the video above.

Cerrone went on to lose to dos Anjos at UFC on FOX 17 and McGregor unified the UFC featherweight titles, knocking out Aldo at UFC 194 in just 13 seconds.

Now, a little over four years later, McGregor and Cerrone meet at 170 pounds in the main event of the first UFC pay-per-view of 2020. This bout marks McGregor’s first fight since losing to UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 in 2018.

To relive the moments which paved the way for the Jan. 18 fight, watch the video above.

Also see:

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Video: Conor McGregor cracks pads ahead of Donald Cerrone fight at UFC 246

Conor McGregor is looking sharp ahead of UFC 246.

[autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] is looking sharp ahead of UFC 246.

He returns on Jan. 18 when he takes on [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] in the main event of UFC 246 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in a welterweight bout, and “The Notorious” is currently finalizing his training camp at the UFC Performance Institute.

And, at least by the video he’s sharing publicly, the former UFC double-champ is looking sharp. McGregor posted some footage where he’s laced up in some boxing gloves, hitting pads with his coaches from Crumlin Boxing Club, Bra Brady and Phil Sutcliffe, as well as his longtime striking coach Owen Roddy.

Check out the footage, via Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/tv/B7ICoo9piGm/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

“Pad work at the UFC P.I. Clean work at the gym with my team while DJ Bissett blasts the tunes! #9days #McGregorRecords”

McGregor and Cerrone will take part in a press conference on Wednesday, Jan. 15, three days prior to their fight, where they will come face-to-face for the first time.

The UFC 246 main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

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UFC 246 video: Conor McGregor vs. Donald Cerrone pre-fight breakdown and analysis

Dan Hardy and John Gooden weigh in on Conor McGregor vs. Donald Cerrone.

UFC 246 fight week is almost upon us.

The promotion’s first event of 2020 is set to kick the decade off with a bang, featuring a highly anticipated welterweight main event. Irish superstar and former UFC double champion [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] (21-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) will return from a 15-month layoff when he takes on [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] (35-13 MMA, 22-10 UFC) in the five-round headline bout.

Ahead of the fight, UFC broadcasters Dan Hardy and John Gooden take an in-depth look at the matchup in the latest edition of their pre-fight analysis series “Inside the Octagon.” Check out the full UFC 246 analysis in the video above to see Hardy and Gooden assess each fighter’s route to victory.

UFC 246 takes place Jan. 18 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.

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The current UFC 246 lineup includes:

  • Conor McGregor vs. Donald Cerrone
  • Holly Holm vs. Raquel Pennington
  • Maurice Greene vs. Aleksei Oleinik
  • Claudia Gadelha vs. Alexa Grasso
  • Diego Ferreira vs. Anthony Pettis
  • Maycee Barber vs. Roxanne Modafferi
  • Andre Fili vs. Sodiq Yusuff
  • Drew Dober vs. Nasrat Haqparast
  • Grant Dawson vs. Chas Skelly
  • Aleksa Camur vs. Justin Ledet
  • Askar Askarov vs. Tim Elliott
  • Brian Kelleher vs. Ode Osbourne
  • J.J. Aldrich vs. Sabina Mazo

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UFC 246 Fighter Flashback: Conor McGregor’s bold message after first Cage Warriors win

From Day 1, Conor McGregor was calling his shots inside the cage.

Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone will kick off the 2020 UFC pay-per-view schedule Jan. 18 when they headline UFC 246 in Las Vegas. The fight serves as McGregor’s highly anticipated return to the octagon after 14 months, while Cerrone receives the biggest opportunity of his nearly 14-year career. As part of an occasional series ahead of the matchup, let’s flash back to a McGregor interview where, after picking up his first win for Cage Warriors, he proceeded to send a message to the featherweight division.

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[autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] has been calling his shots since Day 1.

The former two-division UFC champion took the mic after his first promotional win with Cage Warriors (where he also won two titles) and sent a message to the entire featherweight division.

McGregor defeated Aaron Jahnsen via first-round TKO in a lightweight bout at Cage Warriors: Fight Night 2 in 2011 then afterward delivered one of his patented speeches, altering the 145-pound division that he was coming for each one of them.

“I want that belt. Five fights I’m on a contract with Cage Warriors; that’s my first. I should send out a message to all the little scrawny featherweights out there that he was a stone heavier. He was a stone heavier than me, so imagine what I do to the other scrawny ass.”

McGregor would then move down to featherweight and deliver another first-round finish before challenging for the 145-pound title. He captured the promotion’s title via second-round submission.

McGregor’s Cage Warriors tenure would end with one more incredible accolade, when he moved back up to lightweight and captured his second championship simultaneously with one of his greatest knockouts, a first-round elbow over Ivan Buchinger.

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That kickstarted his rise to stardom in the UFC, where he would go on and repeat the same feat, by capturing both the UFC featherweight and lightweight championships simultaneously.

McGregor is set to return after a more than year-long layoff next week, when he takes on Donald Cerrone in a welterweight bout at UFC 246.

UFC 246 takes place Jan. 18 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.

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Dillon Danis on Khabib Nurmagomedov in UFC 229 brawl: ‘He didn’t touch me at all’

But Dillon Danis remembers “uppercutting” Khabib during the mayhem.

Bellator prospect [autotag]Dillon Danis[/autotag] says the infamous UFC 229 brawl did not go down the way everyone thinks.

After UFC lightweight champion [autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag] submitted Danis’ teammate, [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag], in the fourth round of the October 2018 title fight, he jumped the cage and incited a brawl.

The person Nurmagomedov went after was Danis, when he leaped into the air to attack him. But Danis said that Nurmagomedov didn’t even touch him, as the two were quickly separated.

Speaking to “The Schmo,” in an interview released Wednesday, Danis gave his version of how it went down.

“No, he didn’t connect,” Danis said. “You know what’s funny, when he jumped over the thing, and he had his feet and his arms up, so like, he didn’t really know what he was going to hit me with. So I was like, am I going to get kicked right now or punched? I kind of just blocked then I hit him with a right hand, and then I remember him coming forward, and I was uppercutting him, and then he was just trying to run away, and I was trying to grab his head.

“It was just a whole mayhem and then everybody was getting punched, and cops were going all over the place, and … he didn’t touch me at all. I remember hitting him with a good amount of shots, and then I just remember him trying to pull away and run away from me, and I was trying to cup his head and uppercut him. But it was mayhem. Everything happened so fast.”

Danis is set to make his third appearance for Bellator on Jan. 25 against Kegan Gennrich at Bellator 238 in a 175-pound catchweight bout. Danis is currently in Las Vegas to help McGregor prepare for next week’s UFC 246 headlining bout vs. Donald Cerrone, which takes place Jan. 18 at T-Mobile Arena.

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MMA Junkie Radio #3016: Reaction to Mike Perry controversy, McGregor-Cerrone expectations

Hosts “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” discuss the latest MMA news and notes, including Mike Perry’s use of the N-word.

Thursday’s edition of MMA Junkie Radio with hosts “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is here!

On Episode No. 3,016 of the podcast, the gentlemen discuss the latest news and notes, including some unexpected controversy.

THE RUNDOWN:

  • [autotag]Mike Perry[/autotag] finds himself at the center of controversy after calling actor Michael Jai White the N-word as part of their Twitter beef this week. Perry’s use of the racial slur (slang version) incited a reaction from fellow UFC fighter [autotag]Angela Hill[/autotag], who denounced this. What’s even going on here? Why does Perry have to go there in the first place?
  • A UFC 246 pre-fight news conference is happening. On Wednesday, Jan. 15, [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] and [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] will come face to face. What impact will this have on the event and overall future for McGregor the rest of this year?
  • “The Korean Zombie” [autotag]Chan Sung Jung[/autotag] simply will not stop pushing for a title shot against UFC featherweight champion [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag]. Could he actually get the fight?
  • MMA Junkie has handed out its awards for 2019, including Male Fighter of the Year ([autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag]), Female Fighter of the Year ([autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag]), Knockout of the Year ([autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag]), Submission of the Year ([autotag]Bryce Mitchell[/autotag]), Fight of the Year ([autotag]Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum[/autotag]), and more. The fellas react to the winners and share their personal selections.

Stream or download this and all episodes of MMA Junkie Radio over at AudioBoom, or check it out above. You can also catch it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and more. A new episode of the podcast is released every Monday and Thursday.