***spoilers*** UFC News and Discussion Thread

[Cymbols]

Oh, okay. He's been pulled from 200 for not attending media events, and his future in the sport is still up in the air. 

[BortThunderLiger]

If they pay him enough, he'll fight 

[The Lusophone]

Clearly he's off to WWE to continue his feud with Sheamus.

[Vince Russo]

Apparently, the big sticking point is that UFC wanted to do a big week-long media tour, similar to what they did for UFC 189, and because of what that tour took out of him and how it affected his training, Conor wanted more money to do it all again. If true, I can certainly see where Conor is coming from. You don't want to do anything to hurt your training at the best of times, but for a fight that is this big and one with a very personal stake, you can understand why Conor would be reluctant to do anything that he feels would take away from his preparations.

9 hours ago, Ziggy Srardust said:

Not to change the subject but I never understood why Conor wasn't forced to defend the belt next. I get the Diaz fight once but it's like you're a champ you shouldn't be allowed to keep taking other fights and still call yourself the champion

As I understand it, it was UFC's decision to go for the immediate rematch.

[MalaCloudy Black]

 

[Draevyn]

6 hours ago, Vince Russo said:

Apparently, the big sticking point is that UFC wanted to do a big week-long media tour, similar to what they did for UFC 189, and because of what that tour took out of him and how it affected his training, Conor wanted more money to do it all again. If true, I can certainly see where Conor is coming from. You don't want to do anything to hurt your training at the best of times, but for a fight that is this big and one with a very personal stake, you can understand why Conor would be reluctant to do anything that he feels would take away from his preparations.

As I understand it, it was UFC's decision to go for the immediate rematch.

Whether you can see his point or not is irrelevant. The media appearances and the press conferences are a part of his job. Everyone was all over Nick and Nate when they didn't want to do press conferences because they hated them, and didn't want to be part of them so there is no way that Conor should get a pass.

[Vince Russo]

9 minutes ago, Forky said:

Whether you can see his point or not is irrelevant. The media appearances and the press conferences are a part of his job. Everyone was all over Nick and Nate when they didn't want to do press conferences because they hated them, and didn't want to be part of them so there is no way that Conor should get a pass.

What is very relevant is the fact that Conor hadn't signed the bout agreement and is therefore under no obligation to do anything if he doesn't want to in relation to the fight.

[apsham]

And he in fact decided not too and wasn't asking for a pass.

[Lineker]

Blimey.

[Your Mom]

27 minutes ago, Vince Russo said:

What is very relevant is the fact that Conor hadn't signed the bout agreement and is therefore under no obligation to do anything if he doesn't want to in relation to the fight.

So UFC was advertising a fight they hadn't even signed yet?

[TheSqauredCircleMessiah]

It's the old wrestling bit of "I NEVER SIGNED THE CONTRACT!!!!"

Next up, a Ronda Rousey heel turn due to her new "Iron clad, no-cut contract."

From Meltzer:

Quote

Dana White denied today that money had anything to do with the situation with Conor McGregor and UFC 200, but also admitted that the McGregor vs. Nate Diaz fight could still be saved and said he believed McGregor would fight for the UFC again within the next year.

White appeared this afternoon on the Colin Cowherd show on FS 1 and said, "It's not a money issue.  That's false.  That's the problem with the Internet.  Never ever was this about money.  Conor makes a lot of money and he's very happy with the money he makes."

He said McGregor has never come back after agreeing to a deal and looked for more money.

White claimed the entire issue is that McGregor refused to come to Las Vegas this weekend for promotional purposes.  White said they were going to shoot the television commercial and have press conferences in three cities, starting in Las Vegas, and then he'd be able to return to Iceland and train for the fight, noting it's not like they were asking him three weeks before the fight to break camp.

White claimed that in a conversation with McGregor's manager, he was asked to move this to May and White said that they were spending $10 million promoting the show and the money is in motion.

"It never got combative," said White.  "I was talking to his manager. They were asking, `Let's move all this to May.'  You can't move it.  This stuff is in motion."

"I'm not mad, even a little bit," said White to Cowherd, who said that White didn't appear to be mad yesterday when they were together.  "You were with me yesterday, did I seem mad?  It's UFC 200.  It's a massive fight.  Believe me, when Conor went out, ten other people called asking to come in."

"Obviously Conor made a decision and made a choice to not want to fight on this card. And that's how he gets paid.  That's on him.  The show will go on."

White said that McGregor does have to clear up the retirement talk, noting that if McGregor says he's retired, then the UFC 200 fight with Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar would be for the featherweight title and not, as it stands right now, the interim title.

 

[Chris2K]

Meanwhile, in what has to be some alternate universe masquerading as our own:

Quote

Georges St-Pierre is hosting a new TV show called "The Boneyard" on The History Channel in Canada. The show started this past week in a Thursday at 9 p.m. time slot. The show has St-Pierre, who is really into paleontology, traveling all over the world looking for bones of prehistoric beasts.

 

[Gazz]

I'd watch the shit out of that show.

[Thrilla]

I'd only watch it if he fought the beasts, Deadliest Warrior style.

[SeanDMan]

"Wooly mammoth, you are obviously big and strong, but I was not impressed by your performance."

[MalaCloudy Black]

Conor McGregor on Facebook:

Quote

I am just trying to do my job and fight here. 
I am paid to fight. I am not yet paid to promote.
I have become lost in the game of promotion and forgot about the art of fighting. 
There comes a time when you need to stop handing out flyers and get back to the damn shop.
50 world tours, 200 press conferences, 1 million interviews, 2 million photo shoots, and at the end of it all I'm left looking down the barrel of a lens, staring defeat in the face, thinking of nothing but my incorrect fight preparation. And the many distractions that led to this. 
Nothing else was going through my mind. 
It is time to go back and live the life that got me this life.
Sitting in a car on the way to some dump in Conneticut or somewhere, to speak to Tim and Suzie on the nobody gives a fuck morning show did not get me this life. 
Talking to some lady that deep down doesn't give a fuck about what I'm doing, but just wants some sound bites so she can maybe get her little tight ass a nice raise, and I'm cool with that too, I've been giving you all raises. But I need to focus on me now.
I'm coming for my revenge here. 
I flew an entire team to Portugal and to Iceland to make my adjustments in preparation and fix my errors I made with the weight and the cardio prep. 
With the right adjustments and the right focus, I will finish what I started in that last fight. 
I will not do this if I am back on the road handing out flyers again.
I will always play the game and play it better than anybody, but just for this one, where I am coming off a loss, I asked for some leeway where I can just train and focus. I did not shut down all media requests. I simply wanted a slight adjustment.
But it was denied. 
There had been 10 million dollars allocated for the promotion of this event is what they told me. 
So as a gesture of good will, I went and not only saved that 10 million dollars in promotion money, I then went and tripled it for them. 
And all with one tweet.
Keep that 10 mill to promote the other bums that need it. My shows are good. 
I must isolate myself now.
I am facing a taller, longer and heavier man. I need to prepare correctly this time. 
I can not dance for you this time.
It is time for the other monkeys to dance. I've danced us all the way here. 
Nate's little mush head looks good up on that stage these days. Stuff him in front of the camera for it. 
He came in with no shit to do that last one. I'd already done press conferences, interviews and shot the ads before RDA pulled out.
Maybe I'll hit Cabo this time and skull some shots pre-fight with no obligation.
I'm doing what I need for me now. 
It is time to be selfish with my training again. It is the only way. 
I feel the $400million I have generated for the company in my last three events, all inside 8 months, is enough to get me this slight leeway. 
I am still ready to go for UFC 200. 
I will offer, like I already did, to fly to New York for the big press conference that was scheduled, and then I will go back into training. With no distractions.
If this is not enough or they feel I have not deserved to sit this promotion run out this one time, well then I don't know what to say. 
For the record also - 
For USADA and for the UFC and my contract stipulations - 
I AM NOT RETIRED.

 

[Arjen Robben]

It's Tim and Suzie I feel sorry for in all this

[Chris2K]

So realistically he's basically in the same position that Ronda was in, except on probably a larger scale. He's made his name by doing self-promotion and in doing so has generated major interest in his fights, at which point the company and his opponents think they can rely on him to do the promotion and not do as much themselves, thus putting the pressure on him to generate the interest at the expense of his training and preparation.

I can see where he's coming from, this just may not have been the best way to go about it.

[SeanDMan]

1 hour ago, Arjen Robben said:

It's Tim and Suzie I feel sorry for in all this

Funnily enough there is a Tim and Suzie on EWB. At least a Tim, dunno if Suzie ever came to the board.

[Cymbols]

My career aspirations are to become a Tim and Suzie level journalist, so fuck you Conor, don't want to talk to you anyways.