At a Nevada Athletic Commission hearing Tuesday, the immediate fighting futures of UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor were determined.
The two men and Nurmagomedov’s teammates were suspended by the NAC following the post-fight events of their UFC 229 bout that Nurmagomedov won by submission. Afterward, he started yelling at McGregor’s cornermen, jumped the cage, and jumped into the middle of the group, setting off a near riot that saw a member of his team punch McGregor in the cage while he wasn’t looking.
After discussion and deliberation with his counsel, Nurmagomedov (not in attendance) was suspended for nine months and fined $500,000 retroactive to October 6th, the night of UFC 229. The suspension can be reduced to six months if Nurmagomedov participates in an anti-bullying PSA campaign. The six month suspension would make him eligible to return in April while the nine month suspension would clear him for July and possibly the organization’s annual event during International Fight Week depending on the date.
However, a wrinkle in that return is the one year suspensions and matching $25,000 fines handed out to his teammates Abubakar Nurmagomedov and Zubaira Tukhugov, also not in attendance. ESPN’s Ariel Helwani said he doesn’t expect Nurmagomedov to fight until those suspensions are up which would put the lightweight title on ice for a year.
McGregor (not in attendance) was suspended for six months and was fined $50,000 for his role at UFC 229, making him eligible to return as early as April. He was chided by NAC officials for his pre-fight rhetoric against Nurmagomedov and his family, prompting officials to suggest fighters would be fined in the future for what they say and not just what they do.
The fallout of the UFC 229 post-main event melee continued to play out at today’s Nevada State Athletic Commission hearing.
After Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor were given 10-day suspensions as a formality leading into today’s hearing, the commission voted to extend their temporary suspensions. The suspensions were extended through the resolution of the NSAC’s investigation.
The NSAC also voted to release half of Nurmagomedov’s $2 million disclosed purse to Nurmagomedov. The entire disclosed purse, which is only a portion of what Nurmagomedov will be paid for his fight against McGregor at UFC 229, had been withheld by the commission.
Nurmagomedov and McGregor will need to attend a disciplinary hearing that’s scheduled for December, where the situation may be resolved.
McGregor’s manager Audie Attar released a statement today: “I understand that the Nevada State Athletic Commission is doing a thorough investigation, which I am confident will benefit my client, Conor McGregor.”
The UFC lightweight champion isn’t happy with his employers and told the world about it Thursday.
Fresh off his fourth round submission win over Conor McGregor and the subsequent post-fight melee at Saturday’s UFC 229, Khabib Nurmagomedov threatened to leave UFC if they cut his teammate.
The fighter in question is Zubaira Tukhugov, a UFC featherweight who is scheduled to face McGregor teammate Artem Lobov at the UFC Moncton, Canada, event in just a few weeks. He was part of the post-fight brawl in which Nurmagomedov left the cage in an attempt to fight McGregor teammate Dillon Danis, an altercation that spilled over into the cage as well.
After the show, Dana White said that any of Nurmagomedov’s teammates involved would be done with the UFC, but they have yet to announce any releases or other sanctions.
The craziest week in UFC history saw the most lucrative show they’ve ever done, one of the best cards, the complete lack of discipline come to roost, a number of new and changed matches that only made it clear once again that titles are a joke.
From a mainstream standpoint, UFC 229, which took place 10/6 at the T Mobil Arena in Las Vegas, was the most talked about show in company history with the exception of when Ronda Rousey lost to Holly Holm.
This was twice as big on PPV, and nearly as big to the public. With 10.5 million google searches regarding the show, the second biggest in history (to the Rouse vs. Holm match which did 11.7 million), it blew past Hurricane Michael, was five times that of the Boston Red Sox, ten times that of the WWE’s Australia show, and landed big numbers for McGregor (7 million), Khabib Nurmagomedov, Derrick Lewis, Michelle Waterson, Ovince Saint Preux and Anthony Pettis.
Dana White appeared on TMZ Sports today and discussed the fallout from UFC 229 — including pay-per-view numbers.
Wite was smiling at the start, saying that we are just starting to get the PPV numbers rolling in. Later on, when asked if they broke three million buys, White smiled and said “We didn’t break three, but it’s so hard to do that.” White went on to say that they were “way over” two million buys.
The previous UFC PPV record was for the second Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz fight in March 2016, which was reported to have done 1.65 million buys. Previously, UFC 100 had done 1.6 million buys with Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir, although that was at lower prices.
White was asked about a possible fine and/or suspension for Khabib Nurmagomedov’s role in the brawl that took place after he defeated McGregor. White said that he thought Nurmagomedov should be suspended for 4-6 months and fined a quarter of a million dollars. White also said that any other state would uphold the suspension and UFC would not try to get around that by booking Nurmagomedov to fight internationally during that time.
White mentioned Tony Ferguson as a potential future opponent for Nurmagomedov and definitively stated that Nurmagomedov would not be stripped of his title for his actions.
It was an unbelievable scene in the moments following UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov’s submission victory over Conor McGregor at Saturday’s UFC 229, one that is overshadowing the actual finish itself.
Helping me sort through all of the opinion clutter following the happenings is old friend Dave Doyle of MMAFighting.com.
We discuss what our immediate thoughts were when everything happened, my prediction for what the Nevada State Athletic Commission is going to do to Khabib and what happens after that, the roads for both men over the next year. why ultimately this isn’t that bad, and more.
We also discuss being a little worn out by Tony Ferguson’s act, why Anthony Pettis’ new fighting style may take him out of title contention, and more.
Following the Conor McGregor-Khabib Nurmagomedov post-UFC 229 brawl that resulted in multiple arrests and chaos in the T-Mobile Arena, there are some updates following a wild night in Las Vegas.
There are hundreds of videos like this showing the footage if you haven’t seen it:
– At the post-fight presser, UFC president Dana White said that the Nevada State Athletic Commission will launch an investigation into everything and is withholding Nurmagomedov’s $2 million purse as they do. McGregor’s $3 million purse was not withheld as the NAC didn’t see any evidence to do so.
– White was non-committal on stripping the lightweight title from Nurmagomedov until after the NAC decides what to do. “The governor (of Nevada) was here tonight and went running out of the building. That’s not good.”
– Three members of Nurmagomedov’s entourage/corner were arrested, but McGregor declined to press charges so they were released.
– White didn’t entertain a rematch because he’s unsure as to what the NAC will rule and whether Nurmagomedov will be able to get a visa to be able to do so.
– White said he didn’t regret any of the promotion leading up to the fight, nor taking further internal action against McGregor following the bus incident.
– The show brought in 20,034 and did over $17 million at the gate.
– White said the two members of Nurmagomedov’s team that jumped in the cage that are currently on the UFC roster will never fight in the promotion again.
– Nurmagomedov spoke briefly at the press conference and while he was apologetic, he didn’t understand why people were so focused on him jumping the cage after the bus dolly incident.
McGregor didn’t appear the press conference, but did make a brief statement:
UFC 229 was already considered to be a historic event in many people’s eyes, but the way it ended will have spectators remembering what happened for years to come, and not in a good way.
Khabib Nurmagomedov submitted Conor McGregor in the fourth round with a neck crank to retain the UFC Lightweight title. Immediately after the fight, the ringside area erupted in chaos as one of McGregor’s team mates were attacked by someone from Khabib’s team, leading to a brawl. Members of both teams, including Khabib himself threw punches at one another both outside and inside of the Octagon. It eventually resulted in both parties being escorted from the arena as Bruce Buffer announced the winner.
Watch the post-show conference here. Honestly, it isn’t known what will happen or who will be there. It is possible that Dana White will speak about what went down and what the ramifications will be.
Khabib Nurmagomedov defeated Conor McGregor by fourth round submission to retain the UFC lightweight title at UFC 229, but it was what happened after that finish that has the world talking.
Immediately following the victory, an emotional Nurmagomedov was talking to McGregor to the point referee Herb Dean had to pull him away. He then threw his mouthpiece at McGregor’s corner and started yelling at them, leading to him jumping the cage and getting into a scrap with McGregor teammate and current Bellator fighter Dillion Danis.
To say what happened at that point was chaos is an understatement.
Fights involving men from both camps spilled in and out of the cage with one of Nurmagomedov’s men jumping in the cage and hitting McGregor several times. After several minutes, security was able to separate everyone and eventually, McGregor was escorted to the back. What followed that was another shock as Dana White told Nurmagomedov he would have to head to the back before the official announcement for fear of fans throwing things in the cage.
Eventually, the announcement was made by Bruce Buffer but with no fighters or corners in the cage, completing a stunning sequence to what was an eventful night.
The fight itself was nearly as advertised as Nurmagomedov was dominant on the ground from the start, holding McGregor down and wearing him out. The former champion got his shots in on Nurmagomedov, but they weren’t enough to hurt him.
The second round was a dominant one for Nurmagomedov due to his ground work. Early in the round, Nurmagomedov nailed McGregor with a hard right that hurt the Irishman, leading to another takedown and more ground work. At one point, he was landing so many shots from the top that a stoppage was in sight. McGregor was able to eventually get back to his feet, but couldn’t do much else.
Surprisngly, the third round was nearly all on the feet with Nurmagomedov content to stand and trade with the tiring McGregor who got his shots in but without the pop of the first round. McGregor was able to fend off Nurmagomedov’s few takedown attempts, but both men got admonished for inactivity.
Early in the fourth, Nurmagomedov went back to his early game plan, riding McGregor down the canvas. With two minutes to go, Nurmagomedov locked on a face crank that got McGregor to tap. Then, the aforementioned hell broke loose.
Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez will have much more on this on the newest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.
It’s here: the UFC return of Conor McGregor after a two-year absence against his toughest challenge to date in Khabib Nurmagomedov. Oh, and Khabib’s the champion but you’d barely know by all of the attention the challenger is getting.
Let’s take a look at the show and answer a few questions with Paul Fontaine and Ryan Frederick, the later of which who will actually be in the T-Mobile Arena tonight. If you want some free audio to listen to, check out my interviews with Sean Sheehan and Garrett Gonzales.
UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor
Tony Ferguson vs. Anthony Pettis
Ovince Saint Preux vs. Dominick Reyes
Derrick Lewis vs. Alexander Volkov
Michelle Waterson vs. Felice Herrig
Sergio Pettis vs. Jussier Formiga
Vicente Luque vs. Jalin Turner
Aspen Ladd vs. Tonya Evinger
Scott Holtzman vs. Alan Patrick
Gray Maynard vs. Nik Lentz
Lina Lansberg vs. Yana Kunitsaya
Ryan LaFlare vs. Tony Martin
What are you most looking forward to?
Ryan: That’s pretty easy: the main event. It’s the Khabib and Conor show and the biggest fight in a long time, perhaps ever. Having been on the scene in Las Vegas the last few days, it is a huge event. I’ve never experienced a fight week quite like this one in 14 years of going to UFC events. It’s also a great fight on paper, one of the absolute best matchups the UFC can put together. It’s a good clash of styles and a fight where literally anything could happen.
Paul: Obviously the main event but Tony Ferguson is my favorite fighter so I’m looking forward to that one as well. After years of delivering exciting fights and highlight reel knockouts, the former interim champion and TUF winner gets a chance on the biggest stage of his career and with a victory could set himself up for a huge payday down the line against the Conor/Khabib winner.
Josh: LaFlare vs. Martin, duh. The whole main card looks great on screen, but we’ve said that before. It’s the Conor-Khabib show, baby. That’s it.
Anything being slept on?
Josh: Because of the long shadow cast by the main event, Ferguson-Pettis is somewhat being overlooked but I feel like there’s still a ton of buzz about that one too. Maybe Formiga-Pettis because of the title shot implications for the winner, but unless there’s an impressive finish, I don’t sense a lot of newsworthiness to come out of it. Maybe Waterson-Herrig a little?
Ryan: I don’t know that it is being slept on, but we have a fantastic co-main event between Ferguson and Pettis. That could be all kinds of wild and it’ll be interesting how good Ferguson looks coming back so early from a devastating knee injury. A couple of other good fights on the card are Saint Preux and Reyes, and the other Pettis brother, Sergio, against Formiga.
Paul: The whole card is great. One of the Fight Pass prelims has two former title contenders squaring off with Yana Kunitskaya taking on Lina Lansberg. Both were overmatched against Cris Cyborg but who isn’t? At their more natural weight classes, both could make some noise in a bantamweight division that’s really not all that deep and in need of viable title contenders for champ Amanda Nunes.
Anything not doing it for you?
Paul: The heavyweight fight between Derrick Lewis and Alexander Volkov is important and has relatively big names. But while it has a chance to be good, I’m not so sure. Both have had real snoozers in the past and Lewis recently had one of the worst fights of the year, maybe of all time, against Francis N’Gannou on another high profile card. Hopefully, I’ll be proven wrong.
Ryan: There’s two fights that could end up being boring and it’s luckily the first two on the card: Maynard against Lentz and LaFlare against Martin. They feature fighters who play a lot of points fighting and don’t take a lot of chances, and they have all been in more boring than exciting fights. They could put the crowd to sleep early, but I doubt many will be in the arena for those bouts anyway.
Josh: The undercard is kinda meh as far as interesting names, but the fights could be good. Everything seems to be in line though.
What’s the intrigue with the show?
Ryan: It’s obviously what happens in the main event, and whether this sets not only the buyrate record, but by how much. Numbers like 3 million buys have been thrown out, and while I don’t think it’ll get there, it wouldn’t shock me if it actually did. This is a massive event and I’m sure everyone in the end really hopes that Conor wins.
Paul: Really, the intrigue in this show is the intrigue about this sport in general. It’s the classic matchup in the main event — grappler vs. striker — and in those two disciplines, there are none better in the sport than Khabib and Conor. Whoever is able to execute their game plan should win and do so handily. Whatever happens, it’s almost a consensus that the winner will dominate. If the fight’s on the feet, Conor should win and quickly. If Khabib is able to take him down, he will hold him there and grind him to the mat for 25 minutes. Anything can happen in MMA and maybe one of these scenarios doesn’t happen but that’s why we watch the fights.
Josh: If McGregor wins and reclaims the title, that puts the division in a tough spot because I don’t see him wanting to be another one of the guys and start defending the title twice a year. McGregor’s in interesting fight territory now, not ‘defend the belt against all comers’ territory. I don’t see Khabib becoming a big star (aka PPV draw), but there’s still some intrigue in that Ferguson fight if they can try to make it for the 100th time. What happens after the fight is almost as interesting as what happens in the fight…almost.
What will be people talking about most after the show is done?
Paul: A rematch, for sure. If this show sets records (and at this point, even just breaking the record with something like 1.75 million buys would be considered a disappointment), everyone will want to see them fight again. That sucks for the likes of Ferguson, Diaz, GSP, Woodley and anyone else that is highly ranked at anywhere from 145-170. But Conor is all about big fights and big money and a rematch of the biggest money fight of all time would be the biggest fight possible and would also make sense sporting-wise. This could be the first fight in a series between these two as they both should have years of competitive fights left in them.
Ryan: It will be all about what is next for Conor. I do think if he wins, his next fight comes against Tyron Woodley as he goes for another title. It wouldn’t surprise me if that is the way it goes even if he loses, but in that scenario, I see Nate Diaz next. If Khabib wins, I totally think we are getting him against GSP next year.
Josh: That this is the biggest UFC PPV of all time, that Ferguson is the rightful No. 1 contender, and that McGregor continues to do everything he says he can do and then some.
Outside a freak accident, there’s nothing stopping us from Saturday’s UFC 229 and the headliner of all headliners: the returning Conor McGregor vs. the UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
I had such a great time talking with Irish MMA expert and native Sean Sheehan last week about the event that I wanted to keep the train rolling for a second part of ‘We Gotta Talk About Conor’ with first-time guest, Fight Game writer/podcaster, and Wrestling Observer Radio fill-in co-host Garrett Gonzales.
We kicked off with 20 minutes on Garrett’s relationship with our Dave Meltzer as part of Dave’s “come over and watch wrestling/MMA” entourage and his experiences helping Dave record interviews with both New Japan and Bellator MMA stars.
We then transition to Saturday’s UFC 229 show and all that is Conor-Khabib. Among the points of discussion: PPV buyrates and the potential carryover from the Mayweather fight, what happens if McGregor wins, the unpredictability of the fight, and other fights we like on the show.
Then, we finish up with some complaining about the UFC 230 main event for Madison Square Garden and if there’s any aces left up the UFC’s sleeve to help mitigate the damage.
Enjoy this preview for UFC 229 and a little inside baseball talk about our co-founder.
Both UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor made weight Friday morning, but they will face off Friday night at the UFC 229 ceremonial weigh-ins at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV.
You can watch everything happen live at 8 PM Eastern/5 PM Pacific here:
On Friday, Nurmagomedov made 155 pounds right as the official weigh-ins opened up Friday while McGregor weighed about an hour later, making the megafight official. Everyone made weight for the event.
The card:
– Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor
– Tony Ferguson vs. Anthony Pettis
– Derrick Lewis vs. Alexander Volkov
– Dominick Reyes vs. Ovince Saint Preux
– Michelle Waterson vs. Felice Herrig
– Sergio Pettis vs. Jussier Formiga
– Vicente Luque vs. Jalin Turner
– Aspen Ladd vs. Tonya Evinger
– Scott Holtzman vs. Alan Patrick
– Lina Lansberg vs. Yana Kunitskaya
– Gray Maynard vs. Nik Lentz
– Ryan LaFlare vs. Tony Martin
We’re doing polls this weekend on the WWE Super Show-down from Melbourne, UFC 229 from Las Vegas and New Japan King of Pro Wrestling. You can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]. We’re looking for reports on tonight’s NXT show in Citrus Springs, FL to [email protected].
NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING AT 8 P.M. EASTERN TONIGHT ON AXS TV
Jushin Liger & Ryusuke Taguchi & ACH vs. Rocky Romero & Sho & Yoh
Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian vs. Hangman Page & Chase Owens
Hirooki Goto & Baretta & Chuckie T vs. Jeff Cobb & Chris Sabin & Flip Gordon
Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Seiya Sanada vs. Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Zack Sabre Jr.
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kushida vs. Jay White & Gedo
Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll in semifinals of IWGP Jr. title tournament
Young Bucks vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa for IWGP tag titles
Juice Robinson vs. Cody for U.S. title
Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi vs. Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii
El Hijo del Signo & Robin & Yago vs. Akuma & Camorra & Star Jr.
Avispa Dorada & Jarochita & Marcela vs. Dalys & Metalica & Reyna Isis
Valiente vs. Gran Guerrero
L.A. Park & El Hijo de L.A. Park & Mistico vs. Cavernario & Ciber the Main Man & The Chris
World Grand Prix Elimination match: Dark Magic, David Finlay, Flip Gordon, Gilbert El Boricua, Jay Briscoe, Mark Briscoe, Matt Taven, Michael Elgin, Okumura, Caristico, Cuatrero, Diamante Azul, Euforia, Hechicero, Sanson, El Terrible, Ultimo Guerrero and Volador Jr.
QUINTET FROM THE ORLEANS ARENA IN LAS VEGAS AT 10 P.M. EASTERN TONIGHT ON FIGHT PASS
Submission grappling with four teams including Frank Mir vs. Satoshi Ishii and Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Urijah Faber
We’re looking for reports Saturday from the NXT show in St. Petersburg, FL to [email protected].
WWE SUPER SHOW-DOWN FROM MELBOURNE CRICKET GROUNDS AT 5 A.M. EASTERN SATURDAY MORNING ON WWE NETWORK
Undertaker vs. HHH
A.J. Styles vs. Samoa Joe for WWE title
Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler & Braun Strowman
Ronda Rousey & Bella Twins vs. Ruby Riott & Sarah Logan & Liv Morgan
Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz – Winner gets WWE title shot
John Cena & Bobby Lashley vs. Elias & Kevin Owens
Cedric Alexander vs. Buddy Murphy for cruiserweight title
New Day vs. Sheamus & Cesaro for Smackdown tag titles
Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair for Smackdown women’s title
Naomi & Asuka vs. Billie Kay & Peyton Royce
UFC 229 ON SATURDAY FROM THE T MOBILE ARENA IN LAS VEGAS
Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. Eastern
Ryan LaFlare vs. Tony Martin
Gray Maynard vs. Nik Lentz
Yana Kunitskaya vs. Lina Lansberg
Prelims on FS1 at 8 p.m. Eastern
Alan Patrick vs. Scott Holtzman
Tonya Evinger vs. Aspen Ladd
Jalin Turner vs. Vicente Luque
Sergio Pettis vs. Jussier Formiga
PPV at 10 p.m. Eastern
Michelle Waterson vs. Felice Herrig
Alexander Volkov vs. Derrick Lewis
Ovince Saint Preux vs. Dominic Reyes
Anthony Pettis vs. Tony Ferguson
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor for lightweight title
NEW JAPAN KING OF PRO WRESTLING AT 4 A.M. EASTERN MONDAY MORNING ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Desperado vs. Tiger Mask & Jushin Liger for IWGP jr. tag titles
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Juice Robinson & Toa Henare
Young Bucks & Hangman Page & Chase Owens vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa & Taiji Ishimori
Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto & Will Ospreay vs. Minoru Suzuki & Taichi & Takashi Iizuka
Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano & Sho & Yoh vs. Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sanada & Bushi & ?
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Evil
Kushida vs Marty Scurll for IWGP jr. title
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White for Tokyo Dome IWGP title shot
Kenny Omega vs. Kota Ibushi vs. Cody for IWGP heavyweight title
Raw will be Monday in Chicago. There will also be a Smackdown house show Monday night in Louisville.
Smackdown, 205 Live and Mixed Match Challenge are taped Tuesday in Indianapolis. Announced for Mixed Match Challenge are A.J. Styles & Charlotte Flair vs. R-Truth & Carmella and Braun Strowman & Ember Moon vs. Finn Balor & Bayley.
What should have been a fairly innocuous six-woman tag match on last Monday’s Raw ended with Liv Morgan having suffered a concussion and with a social media controversy that has yet to fully die down. The Riott Squad faced The Bellas & Natalya on last week’s Raw as part of the build to Ruby Riott, Morgan & Sarah Logan vs. Ronda Rousey & The Bellas at Super Show-Down in Melbourne, Australia.
Headed up with a major history piece on the 30-year history of Ted Turner’s involvement with pro wrestling and coverage of a week of so many major events, it’s a double issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter this week.
Preview UFC 229 and why it is expected to be the biggest non-boxing PPV in history. Look at projections, some real numbers, some comparisons, and why Dana White says it wasn’t in Madison Square Garden.
The big story looks at Ted Turner and how he first got connected to pro wrestling in 1972, the role of Ray & Ann Gunkel, the wrestling war in Georgia that led to the two hour Saturday night block, the roles of Jim Barnett and Ole Anderson, and the first-ever Omni sellout.
Also look at the decision made by UFC and USADA to no longer announce drug test failures and why it wasn’t well thought out, as well as the reputation of USADA taking such a hit and the sad ironies of this.
Look at WWE Super Show-Down, ticket sales and ramifications.
Read the update on the 1,000th episode of Smackdown, WWE plans for NXT and ideas that have been talked about, major execs selling WWE stock.
Look at the big questions facing Bellator as they try and build their brand, as well as surprising notes of the Bellator brand vs U.S. pro wrestling companies and Saturday’s show in particular.
This issue has full coverage of ROH’s Death Before Dishonor with match-by-match coverage, business notes, polls and star ratings for the show.
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 Dave Meltzer, or by using PayPal directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to [email protected]. For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52. If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.)
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can choose one free classic issue or two free classic issues with a 40-issue subscription.
FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
Super Show-Down airs live on the WWE Network at 5 a.m. Eastern time tomorrow morning. It’s listed as running from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Liv Morgan spoke to The Mirror about being cleared for Super Show-Down: “”I’m 100% cleared by the WWE doctors. They took great care of me. They have a very extensive concussion protocol, which we followed 100% and luckily I am feeling fantastic and we are ready to win.”
Elias spoke to Complex about the background of his character. When talking about various people, he had this to say about Triple H: “There’s a fear that I sense about him, and a reluctance to accept me…I don’t want to say he’s doing his best to keep his thumb on me, but while it feels like a lot of people want the best for me, it doesn’t feel like Triple H does.”
WWE announced yesterday that Vickie Guerrero and former developmental talents Theo Agbi and Josh Woods are recipients of this year’s WWE talent scholarships.
A new episode of Ride Along will air on the WWE Network after Monday’s Raw. It will feature Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair “before their falling out” and Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville.
Travel packages for the 2019 Royal Rumble will be available starting on Wednesday, October 10 on the Royal Rumble travel website. Individual tickets will start on October 12.
WWE added their previous Australian stadium show, Global Warming, to the WWE Network today. The show, which took place on August 10, 2002 featured a main event pitting The Rock against Triple H and Brock Lesnar for the WWE Undisputed title.
Jeff Cobb vs. Eli Isom and Flip Gordon & Kenny King vs. The Kingdom (Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan) have been added to ROH Glory by Honor night one in Baltimore on October 12.
Big Cass, now going as Big C, made his first indie appearance at a Championship Wrestling League event in Michigan and said that his no-compete had expired. He then turned heel, saying people didn’t deserve to know what happened that led to his release.
UFC/MMA
Jon Jones spoke to Ariel Helwani on his impending return to the UFC and the controversy surrounding it. He refutes being a “snitch”, saying he didn’t give any information on anyone. “USADA asked me to do a lot of things throughout this case, but one thing I didn’t do is snitch on anybody in MMA,” he said. “I definitely didn’t give up any information on anyone in the sport, nor do I know of anybody who’s doing these things in the sport. I think the whole snitching thing is pretty silly. It’s interesting to watch people jump to conclusions about things they don’t know what they are talking about. And that’s all I want to say about that topic.”
He also expressed disinterest in fighting Daniel Cormier for a third time. “No, I don’t,” he said when asked. “I already have all the marbles when it comes to Daniel Cormier. I’ve beaten him twice. This game has never been personal. What is personal to me is chasing greatness, not individuals. So in the case of myself and Daniel Cormier, he needs to fight myself one more time if he ever wants to be considered one of the all-time greats. I don’t need to fight him again to be considered one of the all-time greats. I have many more years to prove it.”
Conor McGregor’s disclosed purse for UFC 229 is $3 million and Khabib Nurmagomedov’s is $2 million. The disclosed purses are only a portion of what they’ll make and don’t account for PPV buys.
The UFC uploaded the fourth and fifth episodes of Embedded for Saturday’s PPV, with the fifth episode including footage from yesterday’s press conference for Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor.
Nurmagomedov has posted a third video showing his training camp ahead of tomorrow’s show.
King Mo talked to MMA Junkie about interest in RIZIN and possible future matches in Bellator.
For all Observer readers that are planning to attend UFC 231 on December 8 in Toronto and stay overnight, Grant Zwarych, who sells Observer back issues for us, has arranged a great deal at the Holiday Inn Express at 111 Lombard Street in Toronto. The hotel is a short walk to Scotia Bank Arena, the Distillery District and St Lawrence Market. The rate includes breakfast for 2. The hotel also has one of the lesser expensive parking charges. Rate is available for both Friday & Saturday night.
Readers need to call the hotel directly at 416-367-5555 or can send an email to [email protected] and ask to book under the UFC 231 group block Dec. 7-9, 2018. Please be advised due to high volume of calls to the hotel some unanswered calls will automatically transfer to central reservation and the agent will not have access to the group block.
A room with a King bed is $170.00 (sgl/dbl occupancy, maximum 2 people per room), a room with 2 Queen beds is $175.00 (sgl/dbl occupancy, $10 for each additional person up to maximum 4 people in the room) plus applicable taxes. There is a stricter cancellation policy due to the great rate being offered. Readers must book by November 7 and cannot cancel after November 8 without a one night room & tax cancellation policy. If you have your tickets and know you are definitely going, this is a fantastic deal.
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor is officially on.
Nurmagomedov and McGregor both made weight today ahead of facing off in the main event of UFC 229 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas tomorrow night. Nurmagomedov was the first person to weigh in today, coming in at exactly 155 pounds for their lightweight title fight. McGregor later weighed in at 154.5 pounds.
Tony Ferguson, who likely would have replaced Nurmagomedov or McGregor if either had to pull out, weighed in at 155 pounds for his lightweight fight against Anthony Pettis. Pettis made weight at 156 pounds (with the extra pound allowance).
With McGregor arriving late, yesterday’s press conference for the UFC 229 main event didn’t go according to plan. Nurmagomedov came out when the press conference was supposed to start, took questions for 15 minutes, and left. Dana White then answered questions until McGregor showed up.
Nurmagomedov and McGregor will meet for the final time before UFC 229 at today’s ceremonial weigh-ins. The ceremonial weigh-ins are scheduled to start at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
The lineup for UFC 229 is listed below. Everyone made weight for the event.
Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. Eastern —
Ryan LaFlare (171) vs. Tony Martin (171)
Gray Maynard (156) vs. Nik Lentz (156)
Yana Kunitskaya (134.5) vs. Lina Lansberg (135.5)
Prelims on FS1 at 8 p.m. Eastern —
Alan Patrick (155.5) vs. Scott Holtzman (155.5)
Tonya Evinger (136) vs. Aspen Ladd (134.5)
Jalin Turner (169.5) vs. Vicente Luque (170.5)
Sergio Pettis (125) vs. Jussier Formiga (125.5)
PPV at 10 p.m. Eastern —
Michelle Waterson (115) vs. Felice Herrig (115.5)
Alexander Volkov (251) vs. Derrick Lewis (265.5)
Ovince Saint Preux (205.5) vs. Dominic Reyes (204.5)
Anthony Pettis (156) vs. Tony Ferguson (155)
Khabib Nurmagomedov (155) vs. Conor McGregor (154.5) for the UFC lightweight title
With just days to go before UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov battles returning star and former two division champion Conor McGregor at UFC 229, the two men will attempt to create some headlines Thursday at a pre-event press conference in Las Vegas, NV.
You can watch it live here at 6 PM Eastern or whenever McGregor decides to show up.
McGregor was on his game last month for the duo’s first presser, attempting to both sell the fight and his new brand of whiskey. The New York-based event was also in front of just media with no fans allowed inside. That will not be the case Thursday which should raise the stakes a bit on the emotional front.
The Saturday event should do great business at both the box office and on PPV, the latter of which UFC president Dana White has said is trending toward record levels. McGregor and Nate Diaz’s August 2016 rematch at UFC 202 set the unofficial record at 1.6 million.
McGregor has been part of the top five best-selling UFC PPVs all time, including the top three.
