Conor McGregor is not looking to join WWE anytime soon.
The 34-year-old was asked by New York street reporter Adam Glyn recently if he is interested in working with the company. McGregor responded, “No, not really.”
McGregor was also asked about future acting roles but implied he’s just focused on fighting for the time being. He is currently coaching opposite Michael Chandler on the 31st season of The Ultimate Fighter.
McGregor has teased a possible move to WWE multiple times throughout his career. He posted a photo of himself with a WWE title over one shoulder and a UFC belt over the other during WrestleMania 39 weekend earlier this year. He also tagged the post with #Itsinevitable.
His post led to a back-and-forth on Twitter with Paul Heyman. Heyman posted that McGregor was a “Roman Reigns wannabe” and this resulted in the Irish MMA star eventually threatening to crash SummerSlam and suplex him.
The new issue of the Observer is up on the site right now. Among the items covered are:
*Match of the week and performer of the week
*Jerry Lawler’s recovery and a look at the history of Lawler from his days as the King of Memphis wrestling, his run in the 80s, the high and low points of that company and his role as a WWE announcer
*Nick Khan and Tony Khan talk with WWE sale as well a how much money key people will make on the sale*Update on WrestleMania plans
*The 1977 Superstar Billy Graham vs. Dusty Rhodes feud and how that impacts the 2023 WrestleMania
*Behind the Paul Heyman/Cody Rhodes segment
*Key parts of the interview
*Paul Heyman’s history with Dusty Rhodes
*Elimination Chamber update
*Fedor Emelianenko’s farewell to MMA and where Bellator stands
*Keiji Muto with days left in his career talks about his final match and his condition
*Full coverage of NXT Vengeance
*MLW debuts on REELZ
*New Japan New Beginning in Sapporo
*UFC’s weekend show coverage*Stardom Supreme Fights coverage
*A look at the best matches of 2022
*How many homes are the cable stations that carry wrestling in
*The most detailed look at the ratings over the past week
*Four plus year title reign ends
*AAA planning for Triplemania
*How the Acapulco show led to issues with AAA and AEW
*Notes from Fantastica Mania
*Lots of Kota Ibushi news
*A look at the career of Charlie Norris
*The most watched television wrestling match of the 1970s
*Lots of WrestleMania week news
*Court Bauer talks WWE lawsuit
*AEW new deal in place
*International TV ratings and streaming numbers
*AEW & WWE upcoming show ticket sales
*Jericho Cruise notes
*Behind the MJF promo
*Interesting notes from Mark Hunt’s lawsuit against Brock Lesnar
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
Friday Update
Garrett Gonzales and I did a show today talking a ton about AEW as well as this weekend’s shows, the Cody Rhodes/Paul Heyman promo and much more. Bryan and I will be back tomorrow night talking the weekend news after the UFC show.
Stardom wrestler Himeka announced she will be retiring on the 4/23 show at the Yokohama Arena. This, with subtitles, is her announcement:
Himeka said she would like to face Maika in her farewell match. After that, they will have a retirement ceremony for her on 5/14 at Korakuen Hall. She also asked for a hardcore match with Risa Sea on 2/26 and wants matches with Chihiro Hashimoto and Kakeru Seikiguchi. She said she was no retiring because of an injury but said that she only wanted to do five years in wrestling and then experience new things.
Ronda Rousey returns to Smackdown tonight in Uncasville, CT. The Usos defend the Smackdown tag titles against Braun Strowman & Ricochet plus Rey Mysterio vs. Karrion Kross vs. Santos Escobar vs. Madcap Moss with the winner facing Gunther for the IC title. They were at 4,800 tickets out last time I saw a number.
Jake Skudder broke the Rousey being back tonight story on fightfans.co.uk which we did confirm.
Rampage tonight at 10 p.m. has Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta vs. Butcher & Blade & Kip Sabian, Jungle Boy vs. Ryan Nemeth, Ruby Soho vs. Marina Shafir and Orange Cassidy vs. Lee Moriarty for the All Atlantic title. Mark Briscoe will also appear on the show.
Dana White was asked about the location for the fall Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler fight. He said that AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX is a possibility, as it the T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Madison Square Garden or possibly a stadium in the U.K.
Today is the 39th anniversary of the death of David Von Erich.
UFC 284 tomorrow from Perth, Western Australia
Prelims at 6 p.m. Eastern
Elves Brenner vs. Zubaira Tukhugov
Blake Bilder vs. Shane Young
Loma Lookboonmee vs. Elise Reed
Jack Jenkins vs. Don Shainis
ESPN at 8 p.m.
Jamie Mullarkey vs. Francisco Prado
Kleydson Rodrigues vs. Shannon Ross
Josh Culibao vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan
Modestas Bukauskas vs. Tyson Pedro
PPV at 10 p.m.
Jimmy Crute vs. Alonzo Menifield
Parker Porter vs. Justin Tafa
Randy Brown vs. Jack Della
MaddalenaYair Rodriguez vs. Josh Emmett for the interim featherweight title
Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski for the lightweight title
Kazuchika Okada on his scheduled match Tuesday at the Tokyo Dome against Kaito Kiyomiya with the IWGP champion vs. GHC champion: “I’m not doing that match and I’ve said as much. If they’re still promoting that match and I’m not there then that isn’t my fault and it says more about the companies involved.” This is definitely a unique way to promote a top match at the Tokyo Dome.
New Japan New Beginning in Osaka tonight at 3 a.m. Eastern on New Japan World
Oskar Leube & Toru Yano vs. Great O’Khan & Aaron Henare
We are looking for reports tonight from Smackdown in Uncasville, CT (dark match or stuff off the air notes only) to [email protected]
We are doing polls on tomorrow’s UFC 284 and tomorrow New Japan New Beginning in Osaka, thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match for each show to [email protected]
Anthony Smith vs. Johnny Walker will headline a UFC show on 5/13 according to MMAFighting.com
Other Notes
MLW is doing a television taping in Tijuana tonight which includes Alexander Hammerstone defending the MLW title against Danny Rivera (Danny Limelight). The main event is El Hijo del Vikingo & Rey Horus & Psycho Clown vs. Gringo Loco & John Hennigan & Sam Adonis
Jose Aldo makes his debut as a pro boxer tonight against Emmanuel Zambrano (0-3) in a six round fight at 140 pounds.
Superkick’d runs tonight in Toronto at The Great Hall.
LFA announced its April schedule with a show on 4/14 in Sioux Falls, SD at the Sanford Pentagon and 4/21 in Prior Lake, MN at the Mystic Lake Casino Hotel. Both shows air live on UFC Fight Pass.
ISPW tonight in Avenel, NJ at the First Presbyterian Church’s Westminster Hall has Bull James vs. Tommy Dreamer, Ricky Recon vs Crowbar and Tina San Antonio vs Vicious Vicki. Maven will manage Bull James. They also run 3/11 in Washington Township, NJ at the Westwood Regional High School.
PFL Challengers Series tonight on Fubo Sports Network wit a heavyweight qualifier show:
Louie Sutherland (254) vs. Alton Meeks (228.8)
Abraham Bably (245.6) vs. Hassan Graham (250.2)
Vitor Resenda (243.2) vs. Isaiah Pinson (235.2)
Danilo Marques (247) vs. Ras Hilton (255.2)
Invicta runs on 3/15 at Reelworks in Denver headlined by Strawweight champion Valesca Machado (12-3) vs. Danni McCormack (6-2). The show will air live on AXS TV
AIW on 2/11 in Youngstown, OH at West Side Bowl is headlined by The Sandman.
Zack Sabre Jr. was announced for the 2/26 Beyond Wrestling show.
After several years away from the Octagon, former two-division champion and crossover star Conor McGregor will finally make his return to the UFC later this year.
McGregor and former Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler will both coach the next season of The Ultimate Fighter, announced by UFC head Dana White Saturday morning.
The two will then fight at some point this year, but no details were provided in regard to date, venue or weight class. White said it will be after this season concludes.
The 31st season of the show will debut on Tuesday, May 30th and will run through Tuesday, August 15th on both ESPN and ESPN+.
McGregor hasn’t fought since July 2021 when he lost to Dustin Poirier in their trilogy fight and snapped his tibia in doing so. He is on a two-fight losing streak while Chandler has lost three of his last four — the last being to Poirier at last year’s UFC 281.
Since the aforementioned Poirier loss, McGregor has stayed in the news for mostly legal reasons: both running afoul of the law and being sued by former teammate Artem Lobov over the creation of his Proper Twelve whisky brand.
Tony Ferguson was rumored at one point to be the coach opposite McGregor.
UFC star Conor McGregor is set for his first movie role.
Amazon Studios announced on Wednesday that McGregor will be playing a role in Prime Video’s “reimagining” of the 1989 film “Road House.” The movie will begin production this month and will be available on Amazon Prime Video when it’s released.
The “Road House” remake stars Jake Gyllenhaal and is being directed by Doug Liman. Deadline noted that the role McGregor will be playing isn’t known, but he’ll be playing an original character and not himself.
The “Road House” remake “follows a former UFC fighter (Gyllenhaal) who takes a job as a bouncer at a rough-and-tumble roadhouse in the Florida Keys, but soon discovers that not everything is what it seems in this tropical paradise.”
The original “Road House” starred Patrick Swayze and featured Terry Funk in a role. It was announced in 2015 that Ronda Rousey would be playing the lead role in a remake of the film, but that never came to fruition.
“Conor McGregor is very excited to expand his storied career to Hollywood and join with Jake Gyllenhaal in this reimagining of ‘Road House,’ a beloved classic,” McGregor’s spokesperson Karen Kessler said. “While fighting remains his top focus, this is the beginning of another successful venture in the McGregor empire. He is eager to get started filming.”
McGregor most recently fought at UFC 264 in July 2021, where he suffered a broken leg in a loss to Dustin Poirier.
Former UFC welterweight champion Colby Covington will press charges against Jorge Masvidal in connection with an alleged assault Monday outside a Miami Beach, Florida, restaurant.
Masvidal was arrested Wednesday night and charged with aggravated battery with bodily harm and criminal mischief. He was released on $15,000 bond and his first appearance in court will be on April 21st.
Masvidal could face up to 15 years in prison for the battery charge if convicted.
A released police report detailed some of what allegedly happened, the details of which were unknown following Monday night.
According to Covington, the 37-year-old Masvidal allegedly punched him twice while wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a mask over his face, fracturing a tooth and causing an abrasion on his wrist in addition to $15,000 worth of damage to his $90,000 Rolex watch.
Covington told police he identified Masvidal by his voice and hair sticking out from the hoodie. Masvidal and his agent tweeted on social media shortly after the alleged incident, indicating there was a conflict and that Covington had suffered some kind of injury to his teeth.
The impetus appears to be Covington saying something about Masvidal’s children, but it’s unknown when or to who. Covington claimed Masvidal was saying as much to him during the incident and in a Tuesday morning tweet, Masvidal indicated something of the sort happened.
On Wednesday, Masvidal appeared before the Nevada Athletic Commission as he was applying for a promoter’s license for his bare knuckle fighting organization. However, he asked for the application to be delayed and again alluded to the Covington incident.
“I had a mutual combatant with another athlete, and you know, I can’t say too much on this, but if we could table [the application] for later, that would be amazing,” Masvidal said.
**********
That wasn’t the only notable legal issue involving a UFC star this week as former two-division champion Conor McGregor was arrested and had his car seized in West Dublin, Ireland, Tuesday due to dangerous driving.
McGregor was released after passing alcohol and drug tests and his car was released back to him.
As was reported, McGregor was pulled over, arrested and charged with several offenses that eventually ended up being the dangerous driving charge which comes with a possible six-month prison term and/or fines.
McGregor is recovering from a broken leg suffered in his third fight with Dustin Poirier last July with Dana White saying he expects the 33-year-old to return this fall.
Dave Meltzer and I are back on Wrestling Observer Radio talking all the latest news in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We discuss the report that Cody Rhodes has officially signed with WWE, Tony Khan’s comments about restarting ROH and the big match signed for the PPV, and the latest on Kenny Omega.
We look at the quarterfinals of the New Japan Cup, Jon Moxley vs. Will Ospreay at NJPW Windy City Riot, Conor McGregor’s comments on wanting to fight Kamaru Usman, and then we look at Dave’s biography on Scott Hall.
As always, this is a free show. Just click the red button below to listen.
The first of the annual Josh Nason’s Punch-Out four-part series looking back at the year in MMA has begun.
In this first installment, Wrestling Observer/Fight Game Media podcaster and writer Paul Fontaine drops by to help me sift through the first three months of the year: January, February and March (for those who don’t understand calendars).
On the topic board:
The continued descent of UFC star Conor McGregor as he was dispatched rather easily by Dustin Poirier in their rematch
The crowning of a new UFC heavyweight champion in Francis Ngannou and the immediate inability to make a title fight with Jon Jones
The discussion of UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman as the GOAT of his division wins
Israel Adesanya coming short in his bid to become a UFC double champion…and plenty more.
Paul Orndorff, whose 1986 feud with Hulk Hogan was the most successful house show feud in pro wrestling history, passed away on 7/12 at the age of 71.
The death is sad because friends of Orndorff remember him as someone who always trained hard and was meticulous about eating, which led to one of the great physiques in wrestling’s body era in the 80s. But his body and mind betrayed him starting in the 80s with his body, and both getting progressively worse over the last decade.
Unlike many of his muscular counterparts, Orndorff was an elite worker in the ring until injuries during his landmark feud nearly ended his career, even though he came back and wrestled into his early 50s on a national basis.
But post wrestling was not good. He had a cancer diagnosis in 2011, but eight months after going public with it, announced he beat it. By 2016, he gave a moving speech about his life when honored by the Cauliflower Alley Club, who donated money to him to allow him to keep from losing his home. While the speech was good, he admitted having significant memory problems. One person who went out with him for drinks for two nights that week, noted to us that on the second night, he had no recollection they had gone out the previous night. His condition worsened, to full blown worst case dementia, to the point he didn’t even remember Gerald Brisco, who he had watched on television as a child and had been around for years, nor almost anyone but his family and longtime friend Brian Blair.
We have a lot of different news stories headlining the new issue of the Observer. Our lead story looks at the condition of Terry Funk, his legacy and his generation of wrestlers.
Also in this issue:
Ticket sales for WWE and AEW shows including the four shows that will top 10,000 tickets sold, hottest wrestling tickets on the secondary market as well as this week’s UFC show, ticket sales for all AEW events on sale, every major WWE show including Madison Square Garden and every event this month, details on all shows and capacity of the buildings.
Schedule and some early details on the 2021 G1 Climax tournament.
The arrest of Jonathan Fatu (Jimmy Uso), his track record of arrests from the past and more reaction.
Grappl’s list of the best matches of 2021 so far as well as sleeper matches from small promotions worth checking out.
The biggest lawsuit settlement in WWE history, update on John Cena, Linda McMahon with Donald Trump, Daniel Bryan mentions on Smackdown, Thea Trinidad return to WWE, how often each company does rematches, Smackdown doing a split site show, changes to a WWE streaming product, huge match coming, wrestlers recently cut were to be put in a new group, notes on Breakout tournament competitors, International TV ratings for WWE and AEW, WWE exec honored as one of the best in the world except they fired him, new WWE marketing deal, the most viewed segments on YouTube of WWE programming this past week as well as the current WWE market value.
Update Dwayne Johnson’s planned launch of the XFL and explain the latest delays.
A story on the death of Cyanide Sid Cooper, a top U.K. heel who was both a major inspiration of the Lord Steven Regal character in WCW and Regal’s favorite wrestler as a young child, his matches, what he was known for, life after wrestling and more.
Coverage of AAA’s Verano de Escandalo.
A story on Chris Romero aka Chris Youngblood, from the famous Romero wrestling family, his family, including relatives few know about, his breaking into the business, how he became a big star in Puerto Rico, the heyday of The Youngbloods there, the death of Bruiser Brody, and the glory days of All Japan Pro Wrestling.
More detail on the ratings than any other source, we have how every segment on NXT and AEW did with different age groups, genders and more, plus a look at all other wrestling shows of the past week, how many different viewers the shows had, DVR numbers and how long the average fan watches.
Results of the major pro wrestling events of the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight covering Raw Paul Orndorff and the latest pro wrestling news. You can send questions to the show to [email protected] but please only ask questions tonight regarding Paul Orndorff.
We also have a great show with Ariel Helwani up on the site.
Very sorry to hear the news about Paul Orndorff. While Paul’s most successful run was against Hulk Hogan in their two 1980s runs, he was one of the best athletes and in-ring guys in the business years before that, in places like Mid South, Memphis, the Carolinas and Georgia. I always saw him as a potential NWA champion because he combined the look and the ability. Perhaps the reason he never was considered strongly was being a contemporary of Ric Flair, who was such an incredible performer during that era. Unfortunately a series of injuries including a herniated disc in the neck changed the course of his career right when he was at his peak. We’ll talk more about him on the show and what was said with Paul is he was not old when dementia set in and in his case it was really bad over the past few years to where he couldn’t remember so much about his career. But what a great athlete and intense performer.
Raw tonight is the Money in the Bank go-home show with Bobby Lashley vs. Xavier Woods, Sheamus vs. Humberto Carrillo for the U.S. title Asuka vs. Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Nikki Ash, A.J. Styles vs. Ivar, Omos vs. Erik and Ricochet vs. John Morrison falls count anywhere. This show was taped last Tuesday on a closed set so results did not get out. It’s the last show without fans from the Thunderdome in Tampa. It goes against ESPN’s Home Run Derby so that should hurt, but the rating should be well up from last week’s record low caused by the holiday.
Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley boxing match promoted as a Showtime PPV will take place on 8/29 in Cleveland at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. Paul is from Cleveland. Both men will have to weigh in at a 190 pound limit. Amanda Serrano also defends her WBC and WBO featherweight title against Yamileth Mercado, the super bantamweight champion.
The monthly fee for ESPN plus will be raised from $5.99 to $6.99 starting on 8/13. The yearly subscription price will be raised from $60 to $70. The price for the ESPN+, Disney and Hulu bundle remains the same. UFC will not be increasing its PPV price at this time.
John Kavanagh, the coach of Conor McGregor, said he had suffered a left ankle injury in camp and that a scan before the fight showed damage that could have been made worse by a kick Poirier checked. It’s pretty much now believed across the board the original injury was from a checked kick before the big injury at the end of the first round. McGregor underwent a three-and-a-half hour operation yesterday for a broken tibia and broken fibula. He said he will be on crutches for six weeks but will make a full recovery.
As noted all day, Chris Hero was backstage as a producer at the ROH PPV show. The show was really fun to watch, lots of good wrestling and all the key bouts were different. We’re doing polls right now for both UFC 264 and for the ROH Best in the World show so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
WWE
Natalya being added to the Money in the Bank match as announced today, is notable because they had built up two different teams, Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke and Shotzi & Nox for women’s tag team title shots against Natalya & Tamina on television in recent weeks.
The Broken Skull Sessions episode with Kevin Nash that had been scheduled for yesterday is now set to debut after the Money in the Bank PPV this coming Sunday.
UFC
Dustin Poirier has opened as a -180 favorite to take the title from Charles Oliveira if and when that lightweight title fight takes place.
AEW
Dark Elevation for tonight has:
Darby Allin vs. Angelico
Hikaru Shida vs. Julia Hart
Wheeler Yuta & Orange Cassidy & Chuck Taylor vs. Private Party & Jora Johl
Jungle Boy vs. Lee Johnson
Scorpio Sky vs. Shawn Dean
Brian Cage vs. 5
Red Velvet vs. Leila Gray
Matt Hardy vs. Fuego del Sol
Yuka Sakazaki vs. KiLynn King
Riho vs. Amber Nova
Tay Conti vs. La Brava
Thunder Rosa vs. Dreamgirl Ellie
Brian Pillman Jr. & Griff Garrison & Billy & Colten Gunn vs. The Acclaimed & Luther & Serpentico
Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Baron Black
Leyla Hirsch vs. Kelsey Heather
If you’re a fan of women’s wrestling they’ve got six women’s bouts on the show which must be something approximated a record for that group. This was taped on Wednesday in Miami and the current issue runs the show down but Jungle Boy vs. Johnson got over big with those in the arena.
OTHER NEWS
AXS will have special programming this week to help build Saturday’s Slammiversary show. At 9 p.m. tonight, Pulp Fiction airs on the station with Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows doing wrap-arounds. The Slammiversary one hour preview show airs Thursday at 10 p.m. On Saturday the 2021 Rebellion show airs on television at 3 p.m. and the preview show for the PPV repeats at 7 p.m.
MLW sold out its initial allotment of tickets for 9/11 in Dallas which was said to be about 750 or 800 seats. They are opening up more seats.
The Dallas Observer has a story about a Lucha Libre play that has a strong review. (thanks to Lee Wall)
Cage Fury Fighting Championships announced a 9/16 show at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tampa. C.M. Punk announces for this group and they air live on UFC Fight Pass. Zulkarniaiyn Kamchybekov (5-1) and Phumi Nkuta (3-0) are scheduled to defend their lightweight and flyweight titles on the show.
KSW will be doing a studio show from Warsaw, Poland on 7/17 at www.KSWTV.com Olympic gold medal winning weightlifter Szymon Kolecki (9-1) faces bodybuilder Akop Szostak (4-3) and Marius Zaromskis (23-9) vs. Andrezej Grzebyk (17-4) face off in the semi.
Championship Wrestling from Memphis had TV tapings yesterday that sold out. Lance Archer did a meet and greet at the show. They have a free show called Throwdown in Orange Bound Saturday night, an 8/7 show with a Teddy Long Meet and Greet, 8/14 in Newport, AR and an 8/15 meet and greet with Wolfie D.
Combate Global airs live on Paramount+ at 11 p.m. Eastern with Levy Marroquin (14-3) vs. Carlos Calvo (7-1).
Limited tickets for the 8/15, 8/16 and 8/17 Impact tapings in Nashville go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday.
Despite all the hype going into their trilogy fight, the main event of UFC 264 had a bit of an anticlimactic ending as Dustin Poirier defeated Conor McGregor by first round TKO after the Irishman brike his tibia at the end of the round.
Poirier had McGregor in trouble several times and his ground and pound had referee Herb Dean looking in closely to possibly stop it. McGregor was able to make his way to his feet as the round wound down and as the two exchanged punches, McGregor took a step back and his left ankle turned. He immediately fell on his rear and Poirier went for more ground and pound to try and finish it before time ran out.
McGregor was unable to stand, leading to the doctor’s stoppage. It appeared to be either McGregor’s ankle or shin that broke which Poirier thought was due to a checked kick earlier in the fight. McGregor denied that and said no such thing happened.
McGregor’s lower leg was placed into an air cast and he was stretchered out after an angry post-fight promo in which he continued to insult Poirier’s wife, saying, “This is not over.” He said it didn’t matter where it took place, but insisted they weren’t done with each other just yet.
He did have his moments in the round, landing a left that Poirier acknowledged post-fight as well as a guillotine choke that eventually put him into a worse position. He has now lost two straight for the first time in his career and three out of his last four.
A winner of three straight, Poirier now moves on to face lightweight champion Charles Oliveira who was at cageside. Poirier didn’t mention the fight in his post-fight promo and didn’t hold back in airing his displeasure for McGregor.
“Karma isn’t a bitch, it’s a mirror,” he said.
The show was a massive financial success in the UFC’s first full crowd Las Vegas show since March, bringing in 20,062 for a gate of $16.76 million. Dana White estimated 1.7 to 1.8 million buys.
After the show, White said McGregor will go into surgery Sunday and he will make a fourth fight between them. However, Poirier is still getting the next title shot.
Welcome to F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of UFC 264: Poirier vs. McGregor 3, emanating from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
After more than a year running most of their events behind closed doors at their Las Vegas headquarters, the Octagon finally returns to the T-Mobile Arena in front of a full crowd of fans in their home base, and they’re greeted to the biggest fight of the year featuring the biggest star in the sport’s history.
Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor will settle the score once-and-for-all in the main event in their trilogy bout. McGregor beat Poirier the first time they met, also in Las Vegas, in September 2014, but Poirier took the rematch, knocking out McGregor in the second round at UFC 257 in January in Abu Dhabi. Both men are looking to come out on top in the trilogy bout, where the winner will likely be next in line for a shot at the UFC Lightweight Championship.
In the co-main event, Gilbert Burns returns from his title fight loss, looking to derail the title shot plans of Stephen Thompson. Also on the main card is a heavyweight battle pitting Tai Tuivasa against Greg Hardy, a women’s bantamweight bout between Irene Aldana and Yana Kunitskaya, and a bantamweight bout between rising star Sean O’Malley and late-notice replacement Kris Moutinho opens the main card.
The prelims are filled with exciting match-ups from the top-to-bottom. In the featured prelim, former Interim UFC Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit takes on Max Griffin. Also on the prelims is a welterweight banger between Niko Price and Michel Pereira, and a featherweight bout that sees former TUF winner Ryan Hall make his return against the undefeated Ilia Topuria.
Follow along with our live coverage of the event beginning at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time with preliminary action all the way through the main card.
We are looking for your thoughts on tonight’s event, so send a thumbs up, a thumbs down or a thumbs in the middle along with a best fight and a worst fight to Dave at [email protected].
Rivera with a leg kick early. Zhumagulov lands a combo as Rivera lands a knee to the body. They trade in close range. Rivera coming forward and landing body kicks. Rivera with more kicks. Zhumagulov with a combo. Zhumagulov lands a left hook. Zhumagulov lands as Rivera tries for a takedown and then Zhumagulov has a standing guillotine choke locked in tight and Rivera taps! What a finish by Zhumagulov.
Official Result- Zhalgas Zhumagulov def. Jerome Rivera by submission (guillotine choke) at 2:02 of Round 1
Tavares landing the jab early. They trade inside the pocket, Tavares got the better of it. Tavares with a leg kick. Tavares lands a right hand. Akhmedov lands a combo and Tavares with a leg kick. Akhmedov gets a brief takedown but Tavares scrambles up and they remain clinched. Tavares with a knee before they break. Akhmedov rocks Tavares with a punch and Tavares stumbles back and Akhmedov gets the clinch. We have a low blow on Tavares and a timeout. They get back to action and Tavares lands in close. Tavares with a nice low kick and Akhmedov misses a right hand. Tavares just misses a head kick but lands a leg kick. Akhmedov tries a takedown but Tavares defends and they both land close and Tavares stuns Akhmedov with a left hand. He lands another. 10-9 Tavares.
Tavares with a left hand. They trade inside the pocket and both land and Akhmedov gets a takedown. Tavares works his way up against the fence and they’re clinched. They break. Tavares with a nice leg kick then another. He lands another. Tavares with a high kick. Akhmedov lands a right hand. Tavares with another leg kick and then Akhmedov lands one. Tavares with a body kick and Akhmedov grabs the leg and they trade punches before he lets go. Akhmedov lands a right hand. Tavares with a low kick and Akhmedov lands a counter right hand. Akhmedov lands another right hand after a Tavares leg kick. Tavares lands a knee. Akhmedov with a late right hand. 10-9 Tavares, 20-18 Tavares.
Akhmedov with a leg kick. Tavares with a leg kick and Akhmedov goes to the mat and Tavares lands another. Akhmedov misses a right hand. Tavares lands a right hand and then an upper body kick. Akhmedov just misses a right hand. Tavares with the jab and Akhmedov lands a counter leg kick. Akhmedov with a leg kick. Akhmedov shoots for a takedown but Tavares defends easily. Tavares with a leg kick and Akhmedov lands a right hand. Tavares with the jab. Tavares with a high kick then a low kick. Akhmedov lands some punches. Tavares with a combo and Akhmedov is sprinting away. Tavares with a head kick. Tavares with a combo. He lands a leg kick. Tavares with a spin kick late. 10-9 Tavares, 30-27 Tavares.
Official Result- Brad Tavares def. Omari Akhmedov by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
> Jennifer Maia (#4, 18-7-1, 3-3 UFC) vs. Jessica Eye (#7, 15-9 1 NC, 5-8 1 NC UFC) Women’s Flyweights
Eye lands early. Eye lands the jab as Maia lands to the body. Eye lands. Maia with a leg kick. Maia lands a big knee. Maia with a leg kick. They scramble to the mat for a moment then get up and exchange. Eye lands a right hand. They trade in close range. They trade and Maia with a left hook as Eye lands an uppercut. Maia with a high kick. Eye lands a combo and Maia lands a left hand at the end. Maia lands a combo. Eye with the jab. They trade punches. They land in an exchange and Eye gets a late takedown and ends the round on top. 10-9 Maia.
Maia landing first early on in the second. Eye with the jab. Eye applying the pressure. Maia lands a right hand. Eye gets a takedown but they scramble up quickly. Eye still coming forward and they both land. Eye lands the jab. Eye with a leg kick. Maia lands a nice right hand. Eye with a combo and Maia lands a knee up the middle. Eye with some low kicks. Maia with a right hand. They trade in close range. Eye has a big cut open and Maia lands a left hook. Eye with an inside leg kick. They clinch against the fence and end the round there. The cut on Eye is massive and it came from a clash of heads. 10-9 Maia, 20-18 Maia.
Eye with a leg kick. She’s coming forward. Maia lands a right hand. Eye lands a right hand. Eye with a leg kick. Eye lands a left hand. Eye keeps coming forward and both are landing. Eye with the jab and a leg kick. Maia with a right hand. Eye with a combo to the body. They both land in close. Eye lands a right hand. Eye with an uppercut and lands a left hand. Eye lands to the body. Eye lands a right hand to the body. They trade in close before clinching. They break. They trade. Eye’s cut has opened back up and she is bleeding badly. Eye lands a right hand and a left hand pops Maia’s head back. Close fight. 10-9 Eye, 29-28 Maia.
Official Result- Jennifer Maia def. Jessica Eye by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
ESPN PRELIMS | 8 PM ET/5 PM PT
> Trevin Giles (14-2, 5-2 UFC) vs. Dricus Du Plessis (15-2, 1-0 UFC) Middleweights
Du Plessis with a body kick. Du Plessis with a body kick. Du Plessis with a leg kick. He lands another. Du Plessis with a jumping kick as Giles was swinging. Giles with a combo but Du Plessis is able to land a right hand. Du Plessis with a leg kick. Du Plessis tries a head kick but Giles blocks it. Giles with a leg kick. Du Plessis tries for a takedown against the fence but Giles defending. He almost completes it but can’t. Du Plessis gets Giles down and is in side control. Du Plessis gets to the mount and takes the back and now goes for the leg. Giles scrambles out and they get to their feet and Giles has the back. Du Plessis looking for a kimura but Giles defends and Du Plessis ends up in Giles’ guard. Du Plessis moves to side control and then back to mount. He loses it but grabs the neck and has a guillotine but the round ends. 10-9 Du Plessis.
Du Plessis with a body kick. Giles looking to land the jab. Giles with a knee to the body. They were both looking to land as Giles pushes Du Plessis to the fence and lands. Du Plessis then lands a big right hand that drops Giles and some follow-up punches to finish it off. Big win for Du Plessis.
Official Result- Dricus Du Plessis def. Trevin Giles by knockout (punches) at 1:41 of Round 2
> Ryan Hall (8-1, 4-0 UFC) vs. Ilia Topuria (10-0, 2-0 UFC) Featherweights
Hall with a body kick. Hall with a spin kick to the head and Topuria blocks. Hall goes for the roll to the mat but Topuria slips away. Hall trying for his rollsto the mat but Topuria is running away essentially to get out of trouble. Topuria lands somekicks. Topuria has the back as they roll to the mat but Topuria scrambles out. Topuria lands a right hand. Hall with a body kick. Hall lands a left hand and is continuing to try to roll for a leg lock but Topuria is defending well. Hall was trying to roll and Topuria defends and started landing big punches from the top and knocks Hall out cold. What a finish by Topuria.
Official Result- Ilia Topuria def. Ryan Hall by knockout (punches) at 4:47 of Round 1
> Niko Price (14-4 2 NC, 6-4 2 NC UFC) vs. Michel Pereira (25-11 2 NC, 3-2 UFC) Welterweights
Pereira with the jab. Price pokes Pereira in the eye and we have a timeout. We get back to action and Price trying for a takedown against the fence. They break. Price with a body kick and Pereira grabs the leg and puts him on the mat but lets him up. They trade body kicks. They clinch and Pereira lands some knees. They trade punches inside the pocket. Pereira with a stiff jab and then a leg kick. Pereira with a combo and dumps Price on his back but lets him up. They clinch and Pereira pushes it against the fence. Pereira with a knee as they break. Price with a leg kick. Pereira with a left hook to the body. Pereira tried his cartwheel kick but landed a body kick late. 10-9 Pereira.
They trade kicks to start the second. Pereira with a hard leg kick and then a body kick. Pereira lands a right hand and Price falls to the mat. Pereira back flips into the mount and is landing punches from the top. Pereira looking for a kimura but lets go and is now looking for an arm-triangle choke. He gives up and goes back to landing punches. Price gives up his back but Pereira ends up working back to the mount. They work to their feet. Price now going for a heel hook but Pereira escapes. They trade jabs as they get to their feet. Both landing punches and Pereira is looking tired as Price lands. Price landing more towards the end as they clinch. They exchange at the end. 10-9 Pereira, 20-18 Pereira.
They are throwing wild punches to start the third and Pereira clips Price with a left hand. Price looks for the takedown against the fence but they break. Price with a leg kick and they trade right hands. We have a kick to the groin by Pereira and we have a timeout. They get back to action and Price lands a hard right hand. Pereira lands a right hand. Price pressuring and both are landing. They are both landing near the fence. Price lands a front kick right to the face of Pereira. They are both landing as they clinch and Pereira lands some knees. Pereira tries a takedown and they roll and Price lands some big elbows as they get up. Price with the jab and then some big punches. Price is pouring it on and they clinch. They break. Pereira trying a takedown and Price with some body shots. Price pouring it on late trying to finish but time runs out. Great fight. 10-9 Price, 29-28 Pereira.
Official Result- Michel Pereira def. Niko Price by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
> Carlos Condit (32-13, 9-9 UFC) vs. Max Griffin (17-8, 5-6 UFC) Welterweights
Griffin with a leg kick. Griffin throwing kicks. He lands another leg kick. He lands another. Griffin with another leg kick. Griffin only landing leg kicks but they’re effective. Condit lands a combo. Condit with a leg kick. They trade right hands. Condit with a body kick. They trade punches and Griffin knocks Condit down with a punch and starts landing from the top but Condit is able to get back to his feet. Condit with a jumping knee. Condit lands a right hand. 10-9 Griffin.
Condit with a body kick. Condit lands some punches and then lands a knee. Condit with a right hand. Condit with a leg kick. Condit with a left hand and Griffin lands a punch. Griffin with a leg kick. Condit with a body kick. Condit lands a right hand. Condit with a combo and lands to the body. Griffin with a right hand. Condit with a body kick. They trade punches and Condit with a spin kick. Condit with a nice right hand. They trade jabs. Griffin lands a right hand. They trade jabs. Condit with a combo and a body kick as he pressures Griffin. They trade jabs again. Condit with a late combo. Close round. 10-9 Condit, 19-19.
They trade to start the third. Condit with a high kick. They trade punches. Griffin lands a left hand. Griffin with a combo. Griffin with a body kick and then Condit lands a combo. Griffin with a right hand. Griffin with a combo that stuns Condit. Griffin pressing forward and landing and gets a takedown. They get up and scramble late. 10-9 Griffin, 29-28 Griffin.
Official Result- Max Griffin def. Carlos Condit by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
ESPN+ PPV MAIN CARD | 10 PM ET/7 PM PT
> Sean O’Malley (13-1, 5-1 UFC) vs. Kris Moutinho (9-4, 0-0 UFC) Bantamweights
O’Malley with a front kick. O’Malley with some leg kicks. O’Malley with a body kick then a right hand. O’Malley lands a right hand. Moutinho with a leg kick. O’Malley with the jab. Moutinho with a leg kick. O’Malley with a left hand then a front kick to the body. O’Malley is landing at will. O’Malley landing but Moutinho is swinging and did land. O’Malley with a left hand. O’Malley lands and Moutinho falls to the mat. He gets up and O’Malley is showboating as he’s landing and lands a spin kick. O’Malley still landing. Moutinho lands a right hand. O’Malley lands some punches and a front kick to the body. Moutinho with some leg kicks. O’Malley lands a left hand. O’Malley still landing and Moutinho lands a leg kick. O’Malley lands a series of punches. O’Malley with a knee then a right hand and lands a combo. O’Malley drops Moutinho at the end with a right hand. 10-8 O’Malley.
O’Malley with a spin kick to the body. He lands a front kick to the body. Moutinho talking trash but he’s wobbly still. O’Malley with a leg kick then some right hands. O’Malley with some jabs. O’Malley lands a right hand. He lands a body kick then a head kick. O’Malley with a right hand to the body. O’Malley with a combo. O’Malley continuing to land. He lands a body kick. Moutinho is still coming after O’Malley but eating shots. O’Malley continues to land. O’Malley continues to land combos. O’Malley still landing but Moutinho is coming forward and they clinch. Moutinho with a kick. 10-9 O’Malley, 20-17 O’Malley.
O’Malley landing to start the third. Moutinho lands a combo as he has O’Malley in trouble for a moment. O’Malley lands the jab. O’Malley with a body kick then a right hand. O’Malley with a head kick. O’Malley lands more hard shots. O’Malley with some kicks and a right hand. Moutinho with a leg kick. O’Malley with a combo. He’s teeing off on Moutinho now but somehow Moutinho is able to stay on his feet. Those were big shots landed by O’Malley. O’Malley pouring it on. Moutinho lands a right hand. O’Malley with more punches. O’Malley with the jab. O’Malley lands a right hand. O’Malley with some big punches and Herb Dean stops it late in the fight. Moutinho was eating a lot of shots but this could’ve continued but this was dominant by O’Malley.
Official Result- Sean O’Malley def. Kris Moutinho by TKO (punches) at 4:33 of Round 3
> Irene Aldana (#4, 12-6, 5-4 UFC) vs. Yana Kunitskaya (#5, 14-5 1 NC, 4-2 UFC) Women’s Bantamweights* (Aldana missed weight by 3.5 pounds)
Kunitskaya with some kicks to the legs and body early on. Kunitskaya with another leg kick. Kunitskaya with a body kick and then lands a right hand. Kunitskaya with a spin kick. They clinch against the fence. Kunitskaya with a knee. They trade knees and Kunitskaya lands an elbow as they break. They trade leg kicks and Aldana lands a right hand. Aldana with a left hook to the body. Aldana with a right hand and Kunitskaya with a body kick. Aldana with a combo and Kunitskaya just misses a spinning back fist. Aldana drops Kunitskaya with a left hook and gets on top and is landing punches. Aldana stands and is looking to get back on top and she does and starts landing left hands. Aldana with big punches and it is stopped. Big win for Aldana as she gets the stoppage.
Official Result- Irene Aldana def. Yana Kunitskaya by TKO (punches) at 4:35 of Round 1
> Tai Tuivasa (11-3, 5-3 UFC) vs. Greg Hardy (7-3 1 NC, 4-3 1 NC UFC) Heavyweights
Tuivasa with a leg kick. He lands another. He lands more. He lands another and Hardy lands a right hand. Tuivasa lands a right hand. Hardy hurts Tuivasa and then Tuivasa drops Hardy with a big left hand and Tuivasa lands a follow-up shot as the referee was rushing in to stop it. Big finish for Tuivasa, who then celebrates with his customary shoey.
Official Result- Tai Tuivasa def. Greg Hardy by knockout (punches) at 1:07 of Round 1
> Gilbert Burns (#2, 20-4, 12-4 UFC) vs. Stephen Thompson (#4, 16-4-1, 11-4-1 UFC) Welterweights
Burns with a body kick. Burns shoots in for a takedown and pushes Thompson against the fence. They battle against the fence. Burns is able to get Thompson down. Burns with a couple of punches from the top but nothing is really happening. Thompson works his way up but eats some punches from Burns. They break but neither can land before the round ends. 10-9 Burns.
Burns misses a high kick. Thompson just misses a spin kick. Thompson with a body kick. Burns with a leg kick. Thompson with a side kick. He lands a big one to the body. Burns with a leg kick. Thompson controlling the range and lands a high kick. Thompson lands a big spin kick. Burns lands a right hand. Thompson with a side kick. Thompson lands and Burns goes for a takedown but it’s defended. Thompson lands a right hand. Burns with a low kick and lands a right hand. Burns gets a takedown. They both land as they’re tied up on the mat. 10-9 Burns, 20-18 Burns.
Thompson with some kicks to start as he lands the side kick. Thompson lands a right hand and then a body kick. Thompson lands a wheel kick to the head and Burns goes down but gets up and lands a right hand. Burns shoots for a takedown but Thompson is able to keep it up. Burns gets the takedown. Burns lands a couple of punches but just holding Thompson down. Burns lands some left hands from the top. Burns grabs the neck and looking for a guillotine but Thompson escapes. Burns with some big punches from the top at the end though some were to the back of the head. 10-9 Burns, 30-27 Burns.
Official Result- Gilbert Burns def. Stephen Thompson by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
McGregor lands a spin kick to the body then a leg kick. They trade punches. McGregor with another spin kick. McGregor with a leg kick. Poirier lands a right hand. McGregor with a leg kick. McGregor with another leg kick and lands a left hand. Poirier lands some punches. They clinch and McGregor with a knee to the body. McGregor has the neck and looks for a guillotine. Poirier gets out and lands an elbow from the top. He lands another. McGregor throwing elbows from the bottom. Poirier lands some elbows from the top. Poirier lands a right hand. Poirier back into the guard and McGregor lands an elbow. Poirier lands from the top. McGregor lands an upkick and Poirier back on top landing. McGregor goes for the neck but Poirier gets out and they stand. Poirier drops McGregor late and ends the round landing from the top. 10-9 Poirier.
McGregor broke his ankle sometime in the first and the fight was stopped. He broke it when they both threw punches and McGregor fell back wrong and went down. He wasn’t dropped by Poirier. Poirier wins in anti-climatic fashion.
Official Result- Dustin Poirier def. Conor McGregor by TKO (doctor stoppage- injury) at 5:00 of Round 1
We have a lot of different news stories headlining the new issue of the Observer. Our lead story looks at the condition of Terry Funk, his legacy and his generation of wrestlers.
Also in this issue:
Ticket sales for WWE and AEW shows including the four shows that will top 10,000 tickets sold, hottest wrestling tickets on the secondary market as well as this week’s UFC show, ticket sales for all AEW events on sale, every major WWE show including Madison Square Garden and every event this month, details on all shows and capacity of the buildings.
Schedule and some early details on the 2021 G1 Climax tournament.
The arrest of Jonathan Fatu (Jimmy Uso), his track record of arrests from the past and more reaction.
Grappl’s list of the best matches of 2021 so far as well as sleeper matches from small promotions worth checking out.
The biggest lawsuit settlement in WWE history, update on John Cena, Linda McMahon with Donald Trump, Daniel Bryan mentions on Smackdown, Thea Trinidad return to WWE, how often each company does rematches, Smackdown doing a split site show, changes to a WWE streaming product, huge match coming, wrestlers recently cut were to be put in a new group, notes on Breakout tournament competitors, International TV ratings for WWE and AEW, WWE exec honored as one of the best in the world except they fired him, new WWE marketing deal, the most viewed segments on YouTube of WWE programming this past week as well as the current WWE market value.
Update Dwayne Johnson’s planned launch of the XFL and explain the latest delays.
A story on the death of Cyanide Sid Cooper, a top U.K. heel who was both a major inspiration of the Lord Steven Regal character in WCW and Regal’s favorite wrestler as a young child, his matches, what he was known for, life after wrestling and more.
Coverage of AAA’s Verano de Escandalo.
A story on Chris Romero aka Chris Youngblood, from the famous Romero wrestling family, his family, including relatives few know about, his breaking into the business, how he became a big star in Puerto Rico, the heyday of The Youngbloods there, the death of Bruiser Brody, and the glory days of All Japan Pro Wrestling.
More detail on the ratings than any other source, we have how every segment on NXT and AEW did with different age groups, genders and more, plus a look at all other wrestling shows of the past week, how many different viewers the shows had, DVR numbers and how long the average fan watches.
Results of the major pro wrestling events of the past week.
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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
No show with Garrett Gonzales tonight as he’s on the road. Bryan and I will be doing shows tomorrow after UFC and Sunday after ROH. You can send questions to the show to [email protected]
Bryan and I will be doing our first show and meet and greet in more than a year on 9/5 in Hoffman Estates, IL at The Hyatt Place at 10 a.m. Tickets went on sale yesterday and the first two categories sold out instantly. There are still a few seats left, more information can be found here.
All Out tickets sold out instantly this morning as was noted that they would since almost all the tickets were sold in yesterday’s presale, which also went instantly. The current issue runs down ticket sales for the rest of the month as well as the biggest shows in September. The Wednesday Dynamite show that week at the NOW Arena has 4,200 tickets out while the Friday Rampage show is at 4,400.
WWE tickets officially went on sale to the public today for the 9/10 Smackdown show in Madison Square Garden. There were 6,400 tickets out as of a few hours ago, although for business reasons when WWE runs MSG there are usually a few thousand business trades and comps.
The injury to Pam Martinez (Bayley) is believed to be a torn ACL which was suffered while training at the Performance Center. WWE had mandatory training sessions for almost ,but not all, talent with the idea of getting them in better shape now that the schedule is going back to more live events. It looks like she’ll be out around nine months. On tonight’s Smackdown show, they’ll announce the replacement for Bayley in the match with Bianca Belair for Money in the Bank next week. One would think Sasha Banks would be the leading candidate to do a big match in a week.
Smackdown tonight has announced Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin as Money in the Bank qualifiers. The only other news we know is that Vince McMahon today was changing the scripts around and that as of this morning Jimmy Uso was scheduled to be on tonight’s show. He is there. 205 Live taped Tuesday has Asher Hale vs. Josh Briggs and Odyssey Jones vs. Grayson Waller.
New Japan Word has shows from Sapporo at 5 a.m. tomorrow morning and 1 a.m. late Saturday night. The second show has Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi defending the IWGP tag titles against Tetsuya Naito & Sanada.
UFC 264 is tomorrow. ESPN coverage runs from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern:
Hu Yaozong (185.5) vs. Alen Amedovski (186)
Zhalgas Zhumagulov (125.5) vs. Jerome Rivera (125.5)
Omari Akhmedov (185.5) vs. Brad Tavares (184.5)
Jennifer Maia (125.5) vs. Jessica Eye (125.5)
Trevin Giles (185.5) vs. Dricus Du Plessis (185.5)
Ryan Hall (145) vs. Ilia Topuria (145.5)
Niko Price (169.5) vs. Michel Pereira (170.5)
Carlos Condit (171) vs. Max Griffin (170.5)
PPV at 10 p.m.
Sean O’Malley (135.5) vs. Kris Moutinho (135)
Irene Aldana (139.5) vs. Yana Kunitskaya (134.5) – Aldana forfeited 30 percent of her purse for missing weight that badly
Tai Tuivasa (263) vs. Greg Hardy (264.5)
Gilbert Burns (170.5) vs. Stephen Thompson (170.5)
Dustin Poirier (156) vs. Conor McGregor (156)
Dana White claims the PPV advanced orders are at an all-time record pace. Of course, promoters claim a lot of things. But the show is a lock to do very well. White also said that Donald Trump will be sitting in the front row and it will be the first time Trump will have attended a sports event since he lost the election. By the way, he did lose the election.
A press conference to announce the Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley boxing match takes place on Tuesday at noon Pacific at the Novo at LA Live in Los Angeles. Showtime is promoting the show. Mike Coppinger reported the date of the show as 8/29.
New Japan Strong tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern on New Japan World has Josh Alexander vs. Rocky Romero, PJ Black vs. Alex Coughlin and The DKC vs. Barrett Brown
MLW’s Battle Riot which takes place tomorrow at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia will be airing on Bein Sport later in the month. The show is said to be sold out with full capacity
UFC
There are actually odds from SportsBetting.ag for the Espy awards. For Best MMA fighter the odds are:
Francis Ngannou +135
Khabib Nurmagomedov +155
Amanda Nunes +300
Rose Namajunas +325
For Best WWE moment:
Edge’s winning Rumble -200
Bianca Belair winning Rumble +180
Belair over Sasha Banks to win title at WrestleMania +500
Bad Bunny does a Canadian Destroyer +750
UFC has made a sponsorship deal with Jose Cuervo as the first-ever official Tequila of the UFC.
Khazmat Chimaev vs. Li Jingliang is earmarked for a 10/30 PPV show from Abu Dhabi.
ESPN reported UFC is looking at Mackenzie Dern vs. Marina Rodriguez to main event a show on 10/9.
Pro Wrestling Phoenix on 8/19 at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha.
Combate Global runs tonight on Paramount + at 10:30 p.m. with Marcos Lopez (5-3) vs. Henrich Wassmer (6-5) as the main event.
AAW tonight at 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park, IL with Mance Warner vs. Fred Yehi for the AAW title, Kris Statlander vs. Allysin Kay for the women’s title,Deonn Rusman & Joeasa vs Ace Austin & Madman Fulton for the tag titles, Myron Reed vs. Hakim Zane for the Heritage title and Skye Blue vs. Hyan in an I Quit match, plus Manders vs.Robin Steele, Josh Alexander vs. Jake Something, Travis Titan vs. Isaiah Moore and more.
MCW on 7/24 at the MCW Arena in Joppa, MD has a meet and greet with Lio Rush, Brian Pillman Jr. and Griff Garrison, plus Sam Adonis vs. King McBride, Brian Johnson vs. Dante Caballero and Shane Taylor Promotions from ROH and Varsity Blonds from AEW will be wrestling on the show.
A Memorial Service for 80s pro wrestler Doug Anderson (best known as the father of Cheerleader Melissa Anderson) is tomorrow at 11 a.m. at Hillside Church at 635 Holbook Lane in Creswell, OR 97426. Donations in honor of Doug Anderson can be made to the Greenhill Humane Society at 88530 Green Hill Rd., Eugene, OR 97402.
Bill Apter will be doing a one man show at the Desmond Hotel in Albany, NY on 8/27. Tickets are available at www.prowrestlinghall.org The Apter show will be part of the International Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame induction weekend that takes place 8/27 to 8/29 in Albany.
Cage Fury Fighting Championships, the promotion C.M. Punk does the announcing, has an 8/14 show on UFC Fight Pass from Tunica, MS with Christian Rodriguez (5-0) against someone to be named for the vacant bantamweight title.
Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis-Bennett threw out the first pitch last night at the Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field.
On this day 92 years ago, Gus Sonnenberg beat Ed Strangler Lewis before 25,000 fans at Fenway Park in a two of three fall match in a rematch of the two setting a record gate a few months earlier. The Boston Globe had this story start on the front page of the newspaper and jumped to the sports section. (thanks to Paul Sosnowski)
With Ariel Helwani gone from ESPN, ESPN + has added two new talk shows with Helwani’s former co-hosts. Chael Sonnen will be doing a show with Jorge Sedano while Daniel Cormier will be doing a show with former NFL star Ryan Clark, a show that will talk both MMA and other sports.
There is a show Sunday at Jose Sulaiman Arena in Monterrey, Mexico with El Hijo del Santo & LA Park vs. Dr. Wagner Jr. & Fuerza Guerrera, with Vampiro scheduled to make an appearance at the event.
Pale Pro Wrestling on 7/24 in Arlington, TX with Josh Alexander, Richard Holliday, Calvin Tankman Gino Medina, Chandler Hopkins and an appearance by Ricardo Rodriguez at 360 Elite Avenue.
For the first time since March 7th, 2020, UFC will run a show in front of fans in Las Vegas, Nevada, as Dana White announced UFC 264 will be held on July 10th at the T-Mobile Arena at full capacity.
The event will be headlined by Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier III, expected to be part of the traditional International Fight Week. Tickets will go on sale this week, but White didn’t give the date. He expects 20,000 fans in attendance, a number they have only hit once there. That was UFC 229, headlined by McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov which had 20,034 and a $17.1 million gate.
This will be the third U.S.-based show UFC has put on sale at full capacity in the past month. The first (April 24th’s UFC 261 in Jacksonville, Florida) sold out in minutes while the second (May 15th’s UFC 262 in Houston, Texas) also sold out within minutes for a combined 32,000+ tickets.
The last show UFC ran in their home city was UFC 248, headlined by middleweight champion Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero, in front of 15,077 which did a $2.7 million gate. That was also the last show the company ran in the U.S. that had fans before the pandemic shut things down.
A preview to WrestleMania leads off the current issue of the Wrestling Observer. We look at each match, thoughts on the match, who are the gambling oddsmaker favorites, chart ticket demand with Mania and the next two UFC PPV shows, rules in play, and non-WrestleMania ticket demand.
Also in this issue:
End of the Wednesday night war with the final standings, cover the two Takeover shows, look at television vs. streaming viewership, Canadian numbers, final stands in shows and quarters, and where AEW and NXT go from here.
Takeover with match-by-match coverage with star ratings and other notes from the shows.
Vince McMahon’s decision to put the Chris Jericho interview on Peacock right after the second day of WrestleMania, why the timing works, how Tony Khan reacted, the good, the bad, the political, a preview of something talked about and how this does show a change in WWE policy.
The death of Jack Veneno, a look at his four world title matches with Ric Flair, Dominican wrestling, the story about the world title change that wasn’t approved by the NWA board, as well as the movies on his life and career that have been produced. We look at the level of fame he had in the Dominican Republic and outside the Dominican Republic.
A feature on the direction of AEW, where the viewership declines are and aren’t, reasons, and changes in AEW television over the past year as well as a look at different stars and how much time they are getting.
Nick Khan talking the return of two of WWE’s best known women stars, A.J. Styles’ idea for this year’s Mania that didn’t happen, Roman Reigns talks a match with The Rock, looking at the popularity of all the major promotions and who is gaining and falling, WWE gets rid of longtime announcing team, The Hurt Business breakup, Paul Levesque talks Undertaker’s comments on the modern generation, how pro wrestling did compared to televised sports this past week, Seth Rollins talks fans at TV, A&E wrestling schedule, and WWE market value.
Will Ospreay’s win of the IWGP title, the history of U.K. wrestlers challenging for New Japan’s world title, business updates including bad news for New Japan going into two stadium shows, why the title changed, other angles, all the upcoming streaming shows and major shows over the next month and some good business news as well.
Sakura Genesis, with match-by-match coverage and star ratings.
WWE Hall of Fame ceremonies, go through the candidates, note speeches, the major gaffe in one of the inductions and a look back at a pioneer wrestling family that is never talked about.
U.S. Olympic wrestling trials, the major confrontations, the stars of the team, plus stars of the future to watch out for.
Stardom PPV show.
More into detail on ratings than any other source, we have how every segment on NXT and AEW did as well as how it did with different age groups, genders and more, plus a look at all other wrestling shows of the past week.
Results of the major pro wrestling events of the past week.
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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight covering Raw and with more WrestleMania fallout. You can send questions to the show to [email protected]
WrestleMania over the two days ended up with 650,000 searches. It was No. 8 yesterday, which is low. Logan Paul was No. 10 yesterday with 50,000. Bad Bunny had 100,000 on Saturday.
Tonight is what is usually the biggest Raw of the year, and most years the Raw after Mania goes against the NCAA tournament, so they don’t have that issue this year. It probably won’t beat the Raw Legends Night but it would be expected to do the biggest number other than that of 2021, and likely start a lot of new angles. It will be interesting to see where they are going. Changing the 5/16 PPV from Money in the Bank to WrestleMania Backlash sounds like plans changed this week to book more rematches, and thus that would explain all the heel wins. WWE debuts television at the Yuengling Center on the campus of the University of South Florida in Tampa tonight, which will be home for the foreseeable future.
Miz & Mrs. returns tonight on USA right after Raw.
NXT debuts on Tuesday tomorrow and AEW has Wednesday to itself ona show headlined by Young Bucks vs. Pac & Fenix for the tag titles and Darby Allin vs. Matt Hardy for the TNT title plus Chris Jericho vs. Dax Harwood with Mike Tyson as guest enforcer.
There has been a big public dispute between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. McGregor had promised to donate $500,000 to Poirier’s charity the Good Fight Foundation in conjunction with their fight. Poirier said that McGregor never came through with it. McGregor responded calling Poirier an inbred brain dead hillbilly and told him their fight is off and he’s fighting someone else on 7/10.
Want to send sympathies to the friends of Mark Bujan, a subscriber for decades and a notable historian, who started going to shows in the late 60s and later promoted shows. Bujan died Saturday at the age of 61 from what is believed to have been a heart attack.
Dark Side of the Ring Confidential this week moves permanently from Tuesday to Thursday given NXT has been moved to Tuesday.
New Japan will be streaming tomorrow’s Korakuen Hall show for free for non-subscribers. The show starts at 5:30 a.m. Eastern from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo:
Sho & Yoh & Gabriel Kidd vs. Minoru Suzuki & Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa & Jado vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi & Douki
Babatunde Aiyegbusi, who debuted as the second for Apollo Crews,is expected to go by the name Commandor Azeez.
The family of Ethel Johnson, Babs Wingo and Marva Scott, three sisters who worked for Billy Wolfe in the 50s and remained in the business after that, did a video. They noted WWE never called them about Ethel Johnson going into the Hall of Fame and said the footage WWE had of Johnson during the Hall of Fame ceremony was actually of Sandy Parker, as we had noted, and said Wingo and not Johnson was the first black woman wrestler in the U.S., but that Johnson was the first one to hold a championship. They said they did call WWE and that WWE would make the correction. We’ll have a story on the sisters who were pioneers with Wolfe’s stable in the next issue.
UFC
Warlley Alves vs.Ramazan Emeev has been added to the 6/26 show.
Austin Hubbard vs. Dakota Bush is expected to be added to Saturday’s show. Bush debuts, coming from the LFA.
Sage Northcutt, who was supposed to be one of the headliners on the 4/28 ONE show, has pulled out as he hasn’t recovered from about with COVID which led to blood clots. His scheduled opponent, DDT pro wrestling star and MMA legend Shinya Aoki, now faces Eduard Folayang. The show airs on TNT after Dynamite two weeks from Wednesday.
SWE Fury TV results from the weekend:
Mil Muertes defeated Vito Valentino
Tim Storm gave his farewell promo before leaving SWE after losing the World title to Charlie Haas
The Boogeyman defeated DJ Micheals
Trevor Murdoch successfully defended the NWA National Championship vs Jeremy Wyatt
Miranda Gordy received an award from James Beard for her father Terry Gordy
Miranda Gordy was disqualified in her Women’s Title match vs Champion Christy Jaynes. Lacey Von Erich attacked Miranda and put the Von Erich claw on her after the match.
Texas Champion The Blood Hunter defeated Davey Boy Smith Jr with the help of Milena
The OMG beat Bam Bam Malone and Heartthrob Jayden to win the vacant SWE Tag Team Champions.
The full TV show can be seen online at this link.
Paradigm Pro Wrestling on Wednesday under IWFi rules has Max the Impaler vs. Jordan Blade and Derek Neal vs. Ron Bass Jr. (listed at 6-foot-4 and 330 pounds) and Dominic Garrini vs. Ron Mathis.
Davey Richards said he will be taking bookings again starting in July and can be contacted at [email protected]
MLW Fusion has two title bouts for Wednesday, with the already announced Alex Hammerstone vs. Mil Muertes National title match and a Caribbean title match with Richard Holliday vs. Gino Medina.
While not officially announced yet by the promotion, Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier both tweeted over the last day that they have agreed to a trilogy fight in the main event of UFC 264 on Saturday, July 10th.
It’s expected that the event will be the centerpiece of International Fight Week and will be open to fans, likely in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In their first meeting at featherweight, McGregor knocked Poirier out by first round TKO at UFC 178 in 2014. The two rematched at lightweight in January of this year at UFC 257 with Poirier defeating McGregor by second round TKO. The trilogy fight will also be at lightweight.
While the vacant lightweight title won’t be on the line, the show should be among the UFC’s best pay-per-views for the year, revenue-wise. The January event did more than 1.6 million buys worldwide.
McGregor (22-5) will be looking to avoid consecutive losses for the first time in his career. This will be the first time the Irish superstar has fought twice in a calendar year since 2016. Poirier (27-6-0-1) will be looking for his third straight win, the eight win over his last nine fights, and a shot at the winner of the May Michael Chandler vs. Charles Oliveira bout for the vacant title.
