Originally Posted by Jerm:
Right...but they need a big headline fight for UFC 200 and what better way to get the buzz started now than announce that fight.
They already planned for him to fight at 200 after 196. That is still probably the plan. [Reply]
The UFC offered Jose Aldo a rematch in 196, but he had to turn it down because he wasn't in shape. For a guy who so badly wants that rematch (which he may never get) and publicly called out the UFC for it, that seems to be a rather bad mistake. He needs to be in shape any time Conor is about to fight just in case an opportunity like this comes up. [Reply]
According to Kevin Iole, RDA still wanted to fight, and asked if he could use some kind of painkiller for the night of the fight, similar to what Pacquiao tried. Lorenzo Fertitta vetoed that option. [Reply]
Dana White confirmed that Conor will fight someone at 155. He's not sure yet if it'll be for an interim title.
Conor's reaction according to Dana:
Originally Posted by :
"When we told Conor, he said, 'Come on! This [expletive] guy! Oh my God! He's pulling out?' " White said. "But when we went through the options, he said he'd fight any of them.
"I swear to God, he said, 'I'll fight anyone.' He just doesn't give a [expletive]. People talk about this strained relationship between us and Conor, and he has a different style than I've ever seen, but I have never seen anyone like Conor. The closest was Chuck Liddell, but we've never had one like Conor. You think he's not hurt? But when he says he's going to fight, he's going to fight no matter what."
Originally Posted by New World Order:
Give him Khabib. That would derail the hype train pretty quickly.
Khabib has been given a firm no, and he's already booked for a fight on FOX. Given that he hasn't fought in forever, he can't really complain.
Here's what Dana had to say about Khabib:
Originally Posted by :
"What are we going to do, Khabib hasn't fought in two years and we're going to bring him in to save the show? Besides, Khabib has a fight and we gave that to Fox. It's amazing, to be honest with you. All of these managers are out there jockeying and they say they want to fight Conor. You hear these guys screaming, 'Conor, Conor, Conor,' but then when it comes time to take a fight, they turn it down and they're hurt."
Originally Posted by alnorth:
Khabib has been given a firm no, and he's already booked for a fight on FOX. Given that he hasn't fought in forever, he can't really complain.
Here's what Dana had to say about Khabib:
THey will keep Khabib FAR away from Conor. [Reply]
lol, one of Nate Diaz's friends is live tweeting the negotiations. Diaz doesn't want to fight at 155 (at least not for the money being offered) with this short of notice, and the UFC won't let McGregor fight at 165. 160 catchweight possible, or maybe the UFC goes to Cowboy if Diaz won't work.
Another problem is that even if Diaz stops smoking right now, he might not pass a test on the night of the fight. [Reply]
Sounds like the UFC has moved on to Cowboy. Diaz doesn't want to cut to 155 on less than 2 weeks notice, and there's not much time to get the THC out of his system so he would risk getting screwed by the NSAC like his brother. The Fox Sports twitter is now dropping Cowboy hints. [Reply]