Conor McGregor is returning to the UFC and has also been a figurehead promotional element within BKFC lately, and one of the bare-knuckle champions within that stable has offered thoughts on McGregor's comeback bout.Â
Franco met ‘The Notorious' at the BKFC Italy press conference that led to ‘Bon Bon' winning a high-stakes trilogy bout with Jimmy Sweeney. As he touched on his viewpoints regarding McGregor's rematch with Max Holloway at UFC 329 on July 11th, Franco said [via Bare Knuckle Bowker],
“Yeah, it's amazing to have Conor McGregor obviously in BKFC sharing his positive energy. It's great to have him involved. But yeah, it's going to be good to see him back. I'm glad he's coming back in the game. I think people like Conor needs it. All us fighters need a focus because if we ain't got fighting, there's not much we have got cuz that's all we know. That's all I know.â€
“If I didn't fight, obviously luckily I've got a gym now, but it would probably send me off the rails and I'd be going insane. I'd be trying to find things to do. So, obviously having that focus in training, definitely the best thing for Conor McGregor and he's looking in good shape. He's put his head down. He's put in the work. So, it's going to be a very good fight against Max. Max is a beast. I'm also a good fan, but obviously team McGregor. Hopefully, he's going to get the job done. Big knockout.â€
Conor McGregor seems like someone who can hold onto a grudge, as evidenced by taking the time to venemously target former rival Khabib Nurmagomedov, even though the latter has been retired for several years now. Despite their highly hyped grudge match at UFC 229 in 2018, there is clearly no love lost for ‘The Notorious'. During a fight week interview with Complex before this Holloway sequel, McGregor said [via Bloody Elbow],
“Come on, the guy [Nurmagomedov] has done nothing in the sport. 13 fights he's had in the company and three against name opponents, he had a fight with me and I was coming off the yacht. I was doing bad things on the yacht, yeah? I don't even want to say – I was partying heavy, I was up to my eyeballs in court cases and all of this. I hadn't fought in two years, I was worth $200 million, I come back and fight this f**ing guy. I did four rounds with him, I had a broken toe.â€
“I'm sure you've seen the Netflix show where I broke my foot three weeks before the bout, this guy is nothing. And where is he now also? He's gone. So I don't rate him at all, no courage, the man has succumbed to his pain and it is a damned shame! I have nothing to say to him, nothing to say about him, I don't rate him… Never fought above weight divisions, missed weight, three [major] fights, no stoppages, no knockouts.â€
“Come on, man. How many knockouts has he got? Three or four [Nurmagomedov scored two KOs in the UFC and six outside of it]. You must be mad if you think I'm going to waste my time watching that s***. His first half of his work was fighting on his father's shows in the middle of nowhere in wherever he is from, right? He's 12-0, the opponent he's fighting is 0-0! This isn't boxing, I do not rate him.â€
Islam
Makhachev’s elite grappling continues to draw compliments.
Makhachev will look to defend his
Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title against
Ian
Garry in the UFC
330 main event on Aug. 15 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in
Philadelphia. Ahead of his first title defense at 170 pounds,
Porrada Training Center coach Ronny
Markes has hailed Dagestan's ability on the mat.
Islam Makhachev's grappling advantage before UFC 330
welterweight title defense
Markes has worked with numerous high-level athletes at his Las
Vegas gym, including Johnny
Walker, Jessica
Andrade, Alexander
Volkov, Magomed
Ankalaev and Kelvin
Gastelum. Speaking to Sherdog, he offered insight into
Makhachev’s grappling prowess.
“I watched him train here at the P.I. against an ADCC champion, a
Brazilian more than 10 kilograms [22 pounds] heavier, under
grappling rules,†Markes said. “It was an incredibly tough session
and Islam only lost by two or three points in that grappling
spar.â€
The jiu-jitsu coach then broke down the Makhachev vs. Garry
matchup, emphasizing that the challenger's best chance of victory
is using long-range strikes and avoiding grappling exchanges,
especially considering how easily the Russian controlled former
champion Jack
Della Maddalena on the mat to win the welterweight title.
“Islam has the cardio to fight hard for five rounds,†Markes added.
“He made Jack Della Maddalena, who’s bigger than Ian Garry, look
like a white belt. If he manages to get the fight to the ground,
he’ll create serious problems. Ian’s best chance is to use his
reach and keep the fight at striking distance.â€
The
Professional Fighters League has finalized the lineup for its
July 31 event at UBS Arena in Long Island, New York, featuring an
11-bout card headlined by a lightweight title fight.
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PFL New York is headlined by Usman
Nurmagomedov vs. Archie
Colgan. The card also features several notable matchups across
the main and preliminary cards.
PFL New York: All the details
PFL New York will see undefeated champion Nurmagomedov (21-0)
defend his lightweight crown against unbeaten contender Colgan
(13-0) in the main event.
In the co-headliner, top-ranked women’s flyweight Dakota
Ditcheva (15-0) returns after more than a year on the sidelines
against Denise
Kielholtz (9-5) in a bout with significant title implications
at 125 pounds.
The main card also includes a light heavyweight matchup between
Dovletdzhan
Yagshimuradov (26-8-1) and Simeon
Powell (12-2), while unbeaten lightweight prospect Amru
Magomedov (10-0) squares off against Angel
Alvarez (11-2).
The preliminary card is topped by a bantamweight clash between
Raufeon
Stots (21-4) and unbeaten Lazaro
Dayron (10-0-1). Elsewhere, Jonathan
Piersma (12-3) faces Omar El
Dafrawy (15-6) in a 175-pound catchweight contest, Sean Gauci
(11-1) faces Allan
Begosso (10-4-1) at bantamweight and unbeaten light heavyweight
prospects Moustapha
Diakhate (5-0-1) and Zacharia
Nishimwe (4-0) are also set to collide.
A lightweight
title fight headlines PFL NY: Tune on Friday, July 31 at 7 p.m. ET
on ESPN.
Other scheduled matchups include a light heavyweight bout between
undefeated Khabib
Nabiev (12-0) and Jamelle
Jones (15-8), a women’s flyweight contest featuring Montana
De La Rosa (13-9-1) against unbeaten Tatiana
Postarnakova (7-0) and a lightweight matchup pitting Chamy Delva
(7-1) against Levan
Khabalaev (4-0).
The prelims begin at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT on ESPN App, with the main
card airing at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ESPN.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Professional Fighters League
(@pflmma)
Makhachev recently gave two young men a stylistic makeover. He
started by taking off one's necklace and the other's bracelet. The
Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight champion then
cropped off their curly locks of hair with a trimmer. The Dagestani
assured them that the new hairdo suited them better.
Islam Makhachev's Dagestan team tradition returns ahead of UFC
330
The close crop hairstyle is mandatory in Khabib
Nurmagomedov's team. The rule was laid down by the UFC Hall of
Famer's late father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, who initially honed
the entire team in the mountains of Dagestan. Notably, Makhachev
had once been thrown out of the gym for having long hair.
Makhachev took to his Instagram Stories to showcase the only
hairstyle permitted in the team.
“Today, for these two brothers, we make good haircut. I swear you
look better.â€
Khabib also posted a video of his protege trimming their hair.
Makhachev shared Nurmagomedov's post with the caption:
“They didn't have to go to Dagestan. Dagestan came for them.â€
Makhachev (28-1) is scheduled to defend his welterweight title for
the first time against Ian Garry
(17-1) at UFC
330 on Aug. 15 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
Islam
Makhachev made two guys at their gym cut their hair
“I swear you look better.” 😠pic.twitter.com/PQXA3dDOSH
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