Tag: Conor McGregor

Michael Chandler explains decision to move on from Conor McGregor fight

After nearly two years of waiting for Conor McGregor, Michael Chandler explains why he’s now fighting Charles Oliveira at UFC 309.

It’s been over 22 months since [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] fought in the UFC, largely due to waiting for [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] to compete.

Time’s up, and Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) has officially moved on.

Friday, the former lightweight title challenger confirmed his next fight will take place at UFC 309 against former champion Charles Oliveira. It will be a rematch of their bout at UFC 262 in 2021, where Oliveira (34-10 MMA, 22-10 UFC) claimed the vacant lightweight title by finishing Chandler in the second round.

Chandler knows the risk of challenging Oliveira again but calls the decision “the ultimate bet on yourself.” In a pair of videos posted online, Chandler explained his reasoning.

“I think you guys have forgotten over the last year or so who Michael Chandler is,” Chandler said in a YouTube video. “From October of 2020, I signed with the organization in September, from October of 2020 to November of 2022, in a 25-month span, I did six training camps, one backup fight for the world title fight. Five fights in 25 months. Four Fight of the Night or Performance of the Night bonuses. Two Fight of the Year candidates, one Fight of the Year against Justin Gaethje, one KO of the Year against Tony Ferguson, one Debut of the Year against Dan Hooker.

“… That is why I’m taking the Charles Oliveira fight. Why? Because I took a quick little detour to chase this thing. The opportunity of ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’ … I got more promo, more eyeballs, more of everything in the last year and a half than I would have gotten with three fights, and now I get the opportunity to take a title run.”

When news of Chandler’s decision to take another fight reached McGregor, the Irishman issued a fiery tweet in response.

“Chander saw that takedown getting stuffed and mauled and officially dipped,” McGregor wrote on X (formerly Twitter).” Little Fat P*ssy.” I’m at the hard rock hotel Florida for the bare knuckle tonight. Got tested earlier today by DFSI. Give me my f*cking date!”

Undeterred by McGregor’s words but inspired to elaborate, Chandler posted another video on Instagram to issue a dismissive reply and further detail why he wants to keep fighting rather than wait for a fight that may never come.

“I’m not even going to respond to Conor’s stupid little tweet, acting like I dipped,” Chandler said in an Instagram video. “The simple fact of the matter is, you are the most unreliable human being that has ever graced mixed martial arts.

“So, what am I going to do? I’m going to fight Charles Oliveira. Why am I going to fight Charles Oliveira? Number one, it’s a badass fight. Number two, it’s a rematch. It’s a redemption story for me. The dude who already stole from me – rightfully so, in a fair fight – he stole my dreams, shattered my dreams of becoming UFC champion.”

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_4SlUhPXBi/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

A victory over Oliveira would keep his name on the shortlist of UFC lightweight title challengers. Essentially, Chandler is confident the world would be his oyster if he gets his hand raised.

“Now I get the opportunity to fight Charles Oliviera, become the No. 1 contender, and then I’ve got options,” Chandler said. “If Conor can finally get his house in order, if he can finally string together a couple of sober days, string together a couple of days where he’s actually training and actually feeling good, and he can actually finally, finally make good on his promise of the greatest comeback in combat sports history, if he can finally pony up, then I will fight Conor after I dispatch of Charles Oliveira.

“Or, Islam Makhachev, you are next in 2025, and I will be the champion by the end of 2025.”

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UFC 309: Michael Chandler to rematch Charles Oliveira in return; may fight Conor McGregor later

Frustrated with waiting for Conor McGregor, Michael Chandler will now face former UFC champion Charles Oliveira for the second time.

[autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] has moved on from a long-awaited showdown against [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag].

At UFC 309, which takes place Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York, Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) will now rematch former lightweight champ [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] in a five-round bout. Chandler discussed the news in a YouTube video following a first report from Robbie Fox of Barstool Sports. MMA Junkie also confirmed the matchup with a source. The Chandler vs. McGregor matchup may still come later down the road.

Friday, UFC CEO Dana White told Barstool Sports Chandler was “done waiting” for McGregor, and wanted to book another fight. Chandler’s matchup is now known, and he’ll look to avenge a UFC 262 loss to Oliveira (34-10 MMA, 22-10 UFC), who won the vacant lightweight title by second-round stoppage.

Chandler has waited nearly two years for a matchup against McGregor to come to fruition. After a submission loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 281 on Nov. 12, 2022, Chandler coached opposite McGregor on “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series early in 2023. He was set to fight McGregor at UFC 303 in June, but the fight fell through when the Irishman broke his toe.

Since their first meeting, Oliveira defended his title against Poirier, and defeated Justin Gaethje, but lost his belt on the scale. He then lost by submission to Islam Makhachev in an attempt to claim the vacant title.

Oliviera then rebounded by stopping Beneil Dariush in the first round at UFC 289, but then dropped a split decision against Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300, which was his most recent appearance.

The current UFC 309 lineup includes:

  • Michael Chandler vs. Charles Oliveira
  • Eryk Anders vs. Chris Weidman
  • Viviane Araujo vs. Karine Silva
  • Nikita Krylov vs. Azamat Murzakanov
  • Veronica Hardy vs. Eduarda Moura
  • Jonathan Martinez vs. Marcus McGhee
  • Ramiz Brahimaj vs. Mickey Gall

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.

Dana White says Michael Chandler no longer fighting Conor McGregor, teases new matchup

UFC CEO Dana White says Michael Chandler is “done waiting” for Conor McGregor and a fight announcement is imminent.

[autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] has eluded to the possibility of ending his long wait to fight [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag], and it appears now he will do so.

UFC CEO [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] revealed on Friday to Barstool Sports’ Robbie Fox that Chandler has opted to take another fight, and news of that new matchup is imminent.

“No (McGregor is not fighting Chandler anymore),” White said. “Chandler said, ‘I’m done waiting. I want to fight.’ It’ll come out tomorrow.”

https://www.twitter.com/spinninbackfist/status/1834752340857176509

If White’s interview was recorded on the same day as the video’s release, it’s possible the fight announcement could come on the UFC 306 broadcast from Sphere.

Chandler has not competed since his November 2022 submission loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 281. He coached “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series with McGregor in early 2023 before the pair were finally officially scheduled to meet at UFC 303 in July.

McGregor withdrew due to a broken toe, however, and no new date has been set. The former two-division UFC champ claims he’s eager to fight, but White recently said McGregor won’t fight until early 2025.

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Bare Knuckle FC announces multi-year broadcast partnership with DAZN

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship will have a new home for viewers to see its upcoming events.

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship will have a new home for viewers to see its upcoming events.

BKFC officials announced on Friday that the promotion has entered into a three-year broadcast agreement with DAZN Worldwide that will include live fight cards for subscribers, additional pay-per-view events and other various shoulder programming.

The deal kicks off with the BKFC card in Marbella, Spain on Oct. 12, according to a press release issued to MMA Junkie.

“Our partnership with DAZN represents a major inflection point in BKFC’s global expansion,” BKFC president David Feldman said in a statement. “This three-year deal allows us to bring the adrenaline-pumping action of BKFC to an even larger, worldwide audience. DAZN shares our vision of elevating the sport of bare-knuckle fighting, and together, we will deliver an unparalleled experience to combat sports fans across the globe.”

BKFC put on its first event in June 2018 and has since experienced a slow but respectable growth in notoriety.

Former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor recently gained an ownership stake in the company, and has put forth a legitimate effort in pushing the brand using his massive platform.

BKFC has tested various broadcast partners during its more than six years of existence, but the DAZN deal marks the most noteworthy collaboration to date.

“We are thrilled to become the exclusive home of BKFC’s premier events, said DAZN senior vice president of North America Jared Kass in a statement. “This collaboration speaks to DAZN’s dedication to delivering innovative and unforgettable combat sports experiences. With BKFC now part of our portfolio, fans worldwide will have access to some of the most exciting fights and content in the sport.”

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Dana White explains why Ronda Rousey, Conor McGregor included on his UFC Mount Rushmore

Dana White put his business hat on when selecting his latest version of a UFC Mount Rushmore.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] put his business hat on when selecting his MMA Mount Rushmore.

White’s decision to have [autotag]Ronda Rousey[/autotag] and [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] on his list was questioned by many, with his other two choices of [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] and [autotag]Georges St-Pierre[/autotag] widely accepted.

The UFC CEO explained that the impact these four former champions had changed the sport.

“If you look at Ronda Rousey, which I’m sure everybody goes crazy, ‘Uh, Ronda Rousey,’ women aren’t fighting here,” White told MMA Junkie and other reporters Tuesday at a post-fight news conference. “The knockout that happened last weekend doesn’t happen without Ronda Rousey. Ronda Rousey opened the door for all women and became a huge superstar for us and the biggest superstar in the history of female fighting. As far as the gates, pay-per-views, attention, all of it, nobody was bigger than Ronda. She started it all.

“Conor McGregor took this sport to another level when he became not only the biggest star in the sport but one of the biggest stars in all of sports. You had NFL and NBA and soccer players mimicking Conor McGregor during the games. If you guys want to get into the Jon Jones sh*t, we can get into that. I’m obviously going to have a different criteria when you ask me who I think are because of things I know that happened inside the business and how it changed the game.”

White’s 2020 MMA Mount Rushmore included Amanda Nunes instead of Rousey, as well as Jones, Royce Gracie, and Chuck Liddell. White said he was looking at a different criteria when making his updated list.

White said even Season 1 “Ultimate Fighter” winner Forrest Griffin could make someone’s MMA Mount Rushmore based on his iconic ‘TUF Finale’ fight with Stephan Bonnar that arguably saved the UFC.

He spoke about his final choice in St-Pierre, and the kind of impact he had on Canadian MMA – pointing to the 55,724 fans who attended his UFC 129 title-fight headliner vs. Jake Shields in Toronto.

“My other one was Georges St-Pierre,” White said. “In the evolution of this company, when you think back, anybody who was around – a lot of people weren’t around then, but the people who were, when you went up to Canada with Georges St-Pierre, I’ll never forget the time we were up there. I got stuck in a corner. I’m not kidding you: thousands of people.

“That’s when I was tweeting tickets. Remember those days? When I had video blogs and I was tweeting tickets, we literally almost got killed up there one day. By killed, I mean trampled by people looking for tickets. How big that was up there at that time was absolutely insane, and it was all Georges St-Pierre.”

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John Kavanagh says Conor McGregor ready to make UFC return in 2024: ‘He’s looking very sharp to me’

John Kavanagh says Conor McGregor is ready to fight Michael Chandler right now.

[autotag]John Kavanagh[/autotag] believes [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] is ready to fight Michael Chandler right now.

McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) was scheduled to make his highly anticipated return against Chandler at UFC 303 in July but was forced out due to a broken pinky toe. McGregor initially teased a December comeback, then claimed the promotion is not going to let him fight. UFC CEO Dana White is adamant it won’t happen this year, suggesting early 2025 instead.

“Conor McGregor will fight next year, early 2025,” White told the New York Post. “He’s had so much time off, as far as the hunger, he’s a very wealthy guy. We’ll find out when he comes back, but he is definitely one of the big superstars of the sport that elevated the UFC all throughout Europe and other parts of the world. He’s been a big star and a great partner for us.”

As far as timing is concerned, McGregor’s longtime head coach says otherwise. Kavanagh said McGregor is currently in fight shape, raising further questions about his delayed return.

“If the (McGregor vs. Chandler) date came back and was confirmed for December, we’re already in heavy training, although we’re training remotely together at the moment,” Kavanagh said in an interview with “Lucky Block.” “He’s stateside on, I believe, a Forged Irish Stout tour.

“He’s visiting a couple of breweries over there, but we’re still sending each other training videos and training plans. He’s got some training partners over there and in the footage I’m getting back, he’s looking very sharp to me. If the date was now or in December, it would be a green light for me anyway.”

McGregor hasn’t competed since suffering a broken leg in an injury TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021. Chandler also hasn’t fought since November 2022 when he suffered a submission loss to Poirier. Chandler has chosen to put his career on hold in hopes that the lucrative McGregor fight comes to fruition.

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Dana White’s updated UFC Mount Rushmore ‘absolutely, positively’ includes Conor McGregor

Dana White took a slightly different approach when revealing his updated UFC Mount Rushmore.

UFC CEO [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] took a slightly different approach when revealing his UFC Mount Rushmore.

Ahead of Saturday’s UFC 306 (pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+) at Sphere in Las Vegas, White was asked to list his MMA Mount Rushmore. There were some obvious choices, but White put emphasis on impact in his list.

“You’ve got to go with [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag]. You have to go with [autotag]Ronda Rousey[/autotag] – women would not be fighting if it wasn’t for her,” White told ESPN’s “First Take” (h/t Championship Rounds). “You would have to put GSP ([autotag]Georges St-Pierre[/autotag]) in there and absolutely, positively [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag]. He elevated and changed the game globally.”

White’s list is drastically different than the MMA Mount Rushmore he shared in June 2020. That list included Amanda Nunes, Royce Gracie and Chuck Liddell, along with Jones.

No surprise, White included UFC heavyweight champion Jones again. A former longtime UFC light heavyweight champion, Jones joined a select few when he was able to realize gold in a second weight class by beating Ciryl Gane in March 2023.

St-Pierre is perhaps another obvious choice. A former nine-time defending UFC welterweight champion, St-Pierre retired in 2013 before returning in 2017 to submit Michael Bisping for the middleweight title at UFC 217. He retired for health reasons just a few months later.

Rousey might not make everyone’s list, but the women’s MMA pioneer certainly had her impact on the sport by convincing White to allow women in the UFC in 2013. Rousey defended her UFC bantamweight title six times in one of the most dominant championship runs in company history.

White’s fourth choice is the sport’s biggest star. McGregor is not only the biggest draw in company history, but he was the UFC’s first fighter to hold two championships simultaneously. His performances to capture those belts are two of the greatest championship-winning finishes – a 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo to capture the featherweight title in 2015, followed by a striking masterclass over Eddie Alvarez to capture the lightweight title in 2016.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov reflects on Conor McGregor rivalry: ‘I just tried to bite his heart’

Khabib Nurmagomedov recalls how he couldn’t wait to get his hands on Conor McGregor after the heated buildup to UFC 229.

[autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag] couldn’t wait to get his hands on [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag].

Nurmagomedov submitted McGregor to retain his lightweight title in October 2018 at UFC 229, in what to this day is the highest-selling pay-per-view in company history. There was plenty of bad blood between the two, and McGregor ramped up the trash talk to personal, and almost physical, levels. McGregor tried to intimidate Nurmagomedov in the lead-up to his title fight with Al Iaquinta at UFC 223 by throwing a dolly on the UFC fighter bus he was in.

It was there where Nurmagomedov coined his famous phrase, “Send me location.”

“It was like we just signed the contract, and it was like I prayed to God, ‘Please just close the cage and me and him be alone,'” Nurmagomedov said on the “Inspire Me Podcast.” “This is what I really, really wanted at that time. Because you never know: Someone can get injured, something can happen. You never know.

“I was preparing for this fight, and I was waiting for this moment. I was very happy. I remember when I come inside the cage, when the cage closed, I remember I looked at Dana (White) and I said, ‘Today, you cannot protect him.’ Dana asked me what? I said, ‘Today, you cannot protect him.’ He didn’t hear me. ‘It’s OK, after the fight we’ll talk.'”

After Nurmagomedov mauled and submitted McGregor, his hatred for him didn’t stop there. He couldn’t control his emotions as he jumped over the cage to attack McGregor’s corner, and a brawl ensued.

It brought out a side of Nurmagomedov that no one had seen before, but “The Eagle” was eager to send a message.

“It was a very emotional time, but at the same time, it was my feeling,” Nurmagomedov said. “I really wanted to bite someone’s heart. Do you have that feeling in your life? I just tried to bite his heart. Maybe you can feel this. I am ‘The Eagle,’ and when the eagle is hungry, it’s not good. He has to hunt. That’s why when the promotion promotes this fight, they have to expect something.

“When they know me, when they know all my team, when they know we don’t play. We compete; we don’t play. You cannot play MMA. You can play soccer, you can play American football, you can play hockey, but you cannot play MMA. You have to fight. This is a fighting game. A lot of people said it was a very strange or weird or something like this, but it was my decision.”

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Ilia Topuria: Conor McGregor ‘doesn’t deserve to share the octagon with me’ right now

Ilia Topuria has moved on from the Conor McGregor fight – for now.

[autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] has moved on from the [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] fight – for now.

Featherweight champion Topuria (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) has long expressed interest in fighting the sport’s biggest star, but with McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) yet to return, “El Matador” is starting to lose interest.

McGregor was scheduled to return from a three-year layoff against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in June, but withdrew after breaking his pinky toe. McGregor is eyeing a December return, but UFC CEO Dana White isn’t as hopeful.

“I wanted it before, but right now he seems to be retired,” Topuria told MMA Junkie. “For how long he didn’t fight? For three or four years? Something like that. Once I’m going to see him back in the game – because right now at this point, he doesn’t deserve to share the octagon with me. I’m the world champion. He was, but right now he’s nobody. He’s not even ranked. So if he comes back, he puts himself into the rankings, why not?”

Topuria makes his first title defense against Max Holloway in the UFC 308 headliner, which takes place Oct. 26 at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).

With the likes of bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley aspiring to fight him, Topuria says he has plenty of big matchups on the horizon.

“At this point, it’s like I have bigger fights ahead,” Topuria said. “The fight with Sean O’Malley is bigger, the fight with Max Holloway is bigger, the fight with Islam (Makhachev) is bigger. Right now, Conor doesn’t represent anything else than drugs and alcohol.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.

Jon Anik: Like Conor McGregor, ‘there’s nothing really scripted’ in Dricus Du Plessis’ trash talk

Jon Anik thinks Dricus Du Plessis is a natural when it comes to mental warfare.

PERTH, Australia – [autotag]Jon Anik[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag] is a natural when it comes to mental warfare.

That was evident at Thursday’s UFC 305 pre-fight press conference, when Du Plessis’ trash talk triggered an emotional response from opponent Israel Adesanya.

Du Plessis (21-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) defends his middleweight title against Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 305 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) main event at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.

Du Plessis now has managed to get under the skin of his past two opponents in Sean Strickland and Adesanya in the lead-up to their fights, and Anik compared his trash talk to [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag]’s.

“Not unlike Conor McGregor, there’s nothing really scripted,” Anik told MMA Junkie of Du Plessis. “Certainly there is pre-thought, but he’s just orating naturally and he is effectively getting under the skin of high-level, elite opponents that maybe shouldn’t be taking that sort of bait.

“I just sort of waxed poetic on Israel Adesanya – Dricus Du Plessis is the f*cking man, right – to watch what this guy has done in his UFC career and just methodically go about his business/ I think when you’re sort of a man of truth as he is, you’re very comfortable in your own skin. I don’t think that he has really emoted too much when it comes to this fight, and I think as far as Dricus’ methodology and his mentality is concerned, that’s a great thing.”

“Come on guys stop crying at the press conferences it’s not that serious 🤣.”

If Du Plessis gets past Adesanya, he will have already put together an impressive resume at middleweight in the UFC. Anik isn’t ready to call him a middleweight great just yet if he’s successful, but would see him on track.

“I think it’s a little bit too early to go there, but it certainly wasn’t lost on Dricus that he could have back-to-back wins over Robert Whittaker, Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya, which would just be an absolutely incredible feat,” Anik said. “He’s also a guy that hasn’t tasted defeat in the UFC, and has stayed true to every fiber in his bone while doing it.

“Those are conversations that I think really wouldn’t open after a first title defense even given the strength of schedule, but he’s doing some special things. He’s got an entire nation behind him, and he’s got a big test here obviously come Sunday morning.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 305.