Tag: UFC 229

Conor McGregor predicts KO of Khabib, wants to fight Anderson Silva

Posted on by Josh Nason

On Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on ESPN Monday, Conor McGregor predicted a “devastating” knockout of UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov when they fight this Saturday at UFC 229. 

McGregor hasn’t done a lot of media prior to his UFC return, but spoke to Helwani for nearly half an hour about his road back to the Octagon and what could come next, win or lose.

Among the topics discussed: 

  • Helwani asked whether the payday he’s getting for his return is anywhere near what he earned for fighting Floyd Mayweather. He was non-commital, but was very happy with how he’s going to do for the fight. Speaking of Mayweather, McGregor re-iterated that he wants to rematch Mayeather in boxing, not MMA.
  • Helwani asked about the potential for a Georges St-Pierre fight, but McGregor didn’t seem interested at this time, saying that GSP didn’t have anything against him personally. 
  • McGregor followed that up with showing interest for a fight with former middleweight champion Anderson Silva. The most telling line: “I’m going to do fights that interest me or have meaning.”
  • McGregor said that a trilogy fight with Nate Diaz will no doubt happen and that he will “always give that man his rematch”, citing that Diaz gave him a rematch.

Watch the Conor-Khabib UFC 229 press conference at 5 PM Eastern

Posted on by Josh Nason

Promotion for arguably the most anticipated UFC fight of the year kicks off Thursday at 5 PM Eastern as UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor will go face to face in New York City at a press conference.

The two will face off in the main event of UFC 229 on Saturday, October 6th in Las Vegas. This will be Nurmagomedov’s first fight since winning the then-interim title in a dominant decision over Al Iaquinta in April while McGregor hasn’t had a UFC fight since he beat Eddie Alvarez for the strap in November 2016.

Much of the video promotion for the fight has stemmed from McGregor throwing a bus dolly through a window that Nurmagomedov was sitting on during the UFC 223 media day in April. McGregor later worked out a plea deal with New York State for the attack which injured several fighters.

In the co-main event, former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson will face former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis. Ferguson was scheduled to face Nurmagomedov at UFC 223 but had to withdraw due to a freak knee injury. It’s expected that if either McGregor or Nurmagomedov has to bow out of the fight, Ferguson would tabbed to replace them.

Tony Ferguson to return at UFC 229: Khabib vs. McGregor

Posted on by Joseph Currier

It appears that Tony Ferguson will return from injury at the UFC’s biggest show of the year.

MMA Junkie first reported last night that Ferguson will face Anthony Pettis at UFC 229. That pay-per-view is taking place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 6 and is being headlined by Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor for the lightweight championship.

The UFC has yet to officially announce Ferguson vs. Pettis.

Ferguson, who was then interim champion, was supposed to face Nurmagomedov in an undisputed title fight at UFC 223 this April with McGregor being stripped of his belt, but Ferguson suffered a knee injury while promoting the event and had to be replaced. Max Holloway initially stepped in to face Nurmagomedov, but problems with his short-notice weight cut led to Nurmagomedov instead defeating Al Iaquinta to become champion.

With Ferguson on the same card as Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor, he would likely be the backup plan for the main event if anything were to cause Nurmagomedov or McGregor to be unavailable to fight. Ferguson tweeted yesterday that he has three opponents to train for.

Conor McGregor-Khabib Nurmagomedov set for October’s UFC 229

Posted on by Josh Nason

Nearly two years after he last fought in the UFC and after a mega-payday in his boxing debut against Floyd Mayweather, Conor McGregor will finally return to the Octagon in a lightweight title fight against current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

The fight will be the main event of UFC 229 on Saturday, October 6th in Las Vegas, NV. It was announced at Friday’s UFC press conference but neither man was in attendance.

Nurmagomedov won the interim version of the title in a dominant win over Al Iaquinta at April’s UFC 223, a fight that originally was supposed to be against Tony Ferguson. When McGregor was eventually stripped of the title, the ‘interim’ was dropped.

McGregor was last seen knocking out Eddie Alvarez to win the title at UFC’s debut in Madison Square Garden in November 2016. He hasn’t competed in MMA since then with the Mayweather fight as his only daliance into fighting.