Conor McGregor's comeback fight takes place this Saturday at UFC 329 after a five-year hiatus, but he was originally meant to return much sooner.
MMA
Paddy Pimblett questions Arman Tsarukyan’s UFC title shot case
Paddy Pimblett took issue with the lightweight title case of
Arman Tsarukyan (pictured). | 📷: Getty/UFC
Paddy
Pimblett doesn’t believe Arman
Tsarukyan has done enough to deserve a title shot.
Pimblett recently criticized Tsarukyan’s inactivity in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship and urged him to stop “tickling
people” in wrestling matches if he wants to stay relevant.
Paddy Pimblett discusses Arman Tsarukyan's lightweight title
hopes
Ahead of his upcoming fight in the co-main event of
UFC 329 against Benoit St.
Denis, Pimblett scoffed at the suggestion that Tsarukyan should
be considered next for a title shot.
“He needs to fight,†Pimblett said at UFC 329 media day when asked
about Tsarukyan. “He's had like one fight in three years, and he
beat an absolute bum. He needs to actually fight. Not go around in
a singlet tickling people.â€
Tsarukyan has competed in multiple RAF wrestling events lately,
with his last appearance in the Octagon coming against Dan Hooker in
November of last year, a result Pimblett clearly doesn't rate very
highly. “[Fight] anyone. Just fight someone,†he further added.
“Get in the Octagon and actually fight. Stop going around on your
private jet eating food.â€
Tsarukyan has been campaigning for a title shot for quite some time
now, but current lightweight champion Justin
Gaethje, who's coming off wins over Pimblett and Ilia
Topuria, hasn't welcomed the matchup, seemingly eyeing more
high-profile fights.
Continue Reading
King
Green feels his opponent took the fight due to a perceived
advantage. | 📷: Getty/UFC
King
Green initially wasn't keen on fighting Terrance
McKinney.
Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweights Green and McKinney
are set to collide at
UFC 329 on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The former
recently revealed that he was with the latter a week before the
booking came together and was surprised to find that “T.Wrecksâ€
accepted the fight.
King Green details how Terrance McKinney fight came to
fruition
Green considers McKinney a “homie,†which is why he was surprised
at the matchup. Paying heed to Nate Diaz's
advice, the 39-year-old didn't want to fight someone he considers a
friend. However, despite Green conveying the same to McKinney, the
rising 155-pounder's acceptance of the fight contract has seemingly
offended the UFC veteran.
“Terrance McKinney was supposed to be my homie. I was hanging out
with Terrance a week before we took the fight,†Green said on an
episode of UFC 329's “Embedded†video series. “And Terrance, I'm
telling him like, ‘We're homies…' Nate Diaz broke it down to me —
you ain't supposed to fight the homies. I'm like, ‘Bro, I thought
we was homies. What's up? Why are you trying to fight me?' He ended
up texting me like, ‘Hey, they still want me to take the
fight.'â€
Green now believes McKinney sees this as a favorable matchup, which
is motivating him going into UFC 329. “I was like, ‘Let's do it,
bro.' Maybe you think this is an easy fight. Maybe you think I'm
some sucker or some bitch, we're gonna fight. Let's go fight then.
Let's get it cracking,†Green added.
Green (35-17) is currently on a three-fight win streak with two
finishes. Meanwhile, McKinney (18-8) has finished all 8 of his UFC
wins in the first round and has never seen the judges' scorecards
in his entire career.
Elisha Ellison will face a monumental challenge at UFC 329 as a
historic underdog. | 📷: Getty/UFC
Elisha
Ellison isn't intimidated by the hype behind Gable
Steveson.
Steveson will make his highly anticipated
Ultimate Fighting Championship debut against Ellison at
UFC 329 on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The Olympian
is a -2500 favorite on some sportsbooks going into his UFC debut.
The underdog, however, sees this as an opportunity to make a name
for himself.
Elisha Ellison reacts to Gable Steveson’s training with Jon
Jones
Ellison believes the 2021 Tokyo Olympics wrestling gold medalist is
still inexperienced for a promotion like the UFC. While he isn't
underestimating Steveson, he believes he can shock the MMA world
with a massive upset at UFC 329.
“Anybody coming in, especially to a big promotion in the UFC, 3-0,
you would be a fool not to call him green. It doesn't mean I'm
writing him off,†Ellison said at UFC 329 media day. “He obviously
has a tremendous competition experience in the Olympics, collegiate
wrestling… When I go out there and beat Gable Steveson, it will
mean the world.â€
If Steveson's wrestling pedigree isn't intimidating enough, he has
also been training with Jon Jones in
preparation. However, Ellison is unfazed as “Bones†won't be
fighting on behalf of Steveson. “Jon Jones isn't in the Octagon.
So, it doesn't matter to me,†he added.
Ellison (5-2) has never seen the second round of a fight in his
seven career outings. The former police officer is coming off a
first-round knockout loss in his UFC debut last year. Meanwhile,
Steveson (3-0) has finished all three of his fights in the first
round.
Two years ago, McGregor was set to fight opposing The Ultimate Fighter 31 coach Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in June 2024. However, a toe injury forced McGregor out of that contest, the first time in the former two-division champion's UFC career that he'd ever pulled out of a fight. It was a devestating blow for McGregor and his fans, who were eager to see the fighter make his return to action after breaking his leg in a loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021.
In an interview on The Ariel Helwani Show, McGregor's longtime coach John Kavanagh took full responsibility for the pre-UFC 303 injury that occurred in training.
â€I'll say it more bluntly than [McGregor] will,†Kavanagh said. “I should have had the protective gear on both guys from the start. The beginning of it was a little bit rushed. It's different when you're sparring for sparring, and sparring for whatever they were, Embedded or Countdown, and it was a bit sort of haphazard.
“‘What are we doing?' ‘OK, you two move around for the cameras, but it's also a spar.' It just wasn't done right.â€
Initially, McGregor and his team were unaware of the severity of the injury, so McGregor pressed on with the sparring session that was both for his preparation and for the UFC's video documentation. McGregor felt something was bothering him after his training partner blocked a kick, but pressed on to finish the spar.
“Look, I'll put my hand up,†Kavanagh said. “I should have had all the gear on them and they didn't and he awkwardly caught Tristan's elbow and that happened very early. … That happened in the first minute or so of Round 1 and he kind of whispered to me in between the rounds that he feels his toe is broke. I'm trying to stop it and he insisted on doing the next four rounds, he did all five rounds, because you can kind of run on adrenaline a little bit. But yeah, it was nasty.â€
McGregor's toe injury left him with no choice but to cancel the Chandler matchup and despite months and months and months of rumors, he wouldn't have another fight announced until he was paired up with past opponent Max Holloway to fill the UFC 329 main event spot.
Ahead of McGregor's comeback fight, Kavanagh didn't take any chances with his fighter's health this time.
“Sick,†Kavanagh said when asked how he felt when McGregor injured his foot. “Really, really sick. … It was my fault. I'm not going to beat around the bush on it. Should have had the gear on them.
“So we've been super careful this training camp. Not a niggle on him, not a bump, not a bruise, 100 percent, and we'll get to see the best version of him.â€
Fury. Conor McGregor isn't chasing a fight with “f*cking bum†Justin Gaethje.
Stubborn. McGregor still isn't giving Khabib Nurmagomedov credit for beating him.
Busy? McGregor's longtime coach John Kavanagh thinks McGregor could fight out his contract this year.
Fight. Paddy Pimblett doesn't care what Arman Tsarukyan thinks he deserves, he needs to fight.
Rejuvenated. Robert Whittaker sees himself fighting a few more times now that he's a light heavyweight.
Stray. Mario Bautista has no idea why the UFC social team tagged him in a video where he was being submitted.
Home. Merab Dvalishvili still waiting for Petr Yan with RAF Georgia match ahead.
UFC 329 media day highlights.
UFC 329 pre-fight presser.
Submission Radio media day reaction.
Ben Askren Road to RAF vlog.
UFC 329 Embedded. (Look, it's Conor!)
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
Build a worse fighter, we'll wait.
The Ultimate Fighter 34's latest winner.
Yan Xiaonan (19-5, 1 NC) vs. Denise Gomes (12-3); UFC Shanghai, Aug. 29
Rei Tsuruya (11-1) vs. Kevin Borjas (11-5); UFC Shanghai, Aug. 29
You never forget your first.
My first favorite fighter
With Conor coming back this weekend, he is the one who got me watching UFC and mixed martial arts. He was incredible and I'm hoping he can somehow pull off a win. Which fighter got you into MMA?
Rec 6ReplyRead 44 replies
Two days away from Conor McGregor's return, believe it or not.
Apologies for no Morning Report on Friday, will be back Monday after the UFC 329 dust has settled. Have a great weekend everyone!
If you find something you'd like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKLee of @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, and like us on Facebook.
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