Latest news with #TheNotorious
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Daniel Cormier hopes for better ending to Conor McGregor's UFC career
If Conor McGregor never fights again, Daniel Cormier thinks his lasting UFC memory is an unfortunate one. It's been almost four years since McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) last fought when he broke his leg in a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021. McGregor has planned his return on numerous occasions and was even booked to fight Michael Chandler last June at UFC 303 before withdrawing due to a broken pinky toe. There has been no word on McGregor fighting since then, which has many speculating if he'll ever return. If "The Notorious" is indeed done, Cormier says his final moment in the octagon could overshadow the remarkable career that shot him to superstardom. "For me, it's kind of sad because of this: It's like, when a guy comes, and he's that successful, and he's that good, you hope that the last time you see him in the octagon is him fighting – even if it's him losing," Cormier said on his "Funky and the Champ" show with Ben Askren. "You don't want the last memory is him sitting in the octagon with a broken leg, yelling at Dustin Poirier's wife. It was the craziest vision I've ever seen. It felt like when he got here, everything was fresh, new, and it felt genuine. Then he went to nice Conor when him and Dustin fought in Abu Dhabi. Nice Conor was more preposterous than him doing what he did after the fight with Dustin the (third) time. "Because he was holding Dustin's liquor, they were hugging each other. It was the most odd thing I'd ever seen because that was not what we had come to expect from Conor McGregor. He gets beat by Dustin Poirier, then he goes all the way back to the other guy, but even more to the right. He was more loud, he was more obnoxious, he was nasty, talking about Dustin's wife and all these things. He was more nasty, so even that felt forced. Then when he broke his leg, he was sitting on the ground yelling and screaming. It was almost like he was a rich guy who didn't get his way, and there is nothing he could do about it, and he was acting out because of it. That's like a sad visual for me after all that he became to the sport of mixed martial arts." McGregor has kept busy outside of the octagon as part owner of BKFC and most recently diving into Irish politics. The former UFC two-division met with with President Donald Trump at the White House on St. Patrick's Day "to raise the issues the people of Ireland face." Charles Oliveira: UFC fans 'should forget about Conor McGregor coming back' Photos: Conor McGregor at the White House Dustin Poirier gives thoughts on Conor McGregor's return, says UFC star is 'addicted to the limelight' Michael Chandler changes tune on Conor McGregor's UFC comeback – to some degree This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Daniel Cormier hopes for better ending to Conor McGregor's UFC career
USA Today
25-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Beating Michael Chandler then Conor McGregor 'sounds very tasty' to Paddy Pimblett
Paddy Pimblett loves the idea of beating Michael Chandler's and stealing his fight with Conor McGregor. Chandler was scheduled to face McGregor at UFC 303 last June, but the fight was scrapped when McGregor withdrew due to a broken pinky toe. Tired of waiting for 'The Notorious,' Chandler rematched Charles Oliveira at UFC 309 last November but lost the bout by unanimous decision. Now Chandler (23-9 MMA, 2-4 UFC) will take on Pimblett (22-3 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in a five-round co-main event April 12 at UFC 314 from Kaseya Center in Miami (ESPN+ pay-per-view). If Pimblett can get past his toughest test to date in the former Bellator champion and UFC title challenger, he's all for facing McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) next. 'Sounds very tasty,' Pimblett told Round Eight Boxing. 'A lot of people have said this to me already: 'Beat Chandler, take the McGregor fight.' Obviously he's the biggest star in the sport. He's the biggest star we've ever seen, biggest pay-per-view star. I'll fight him in a main event, and we'll get pay-per-view points. 'It's a no-brainer, of course, to fight McGregor, but let's see if he ever fights again. Let's see if he comes back to the octagon. I respect McGregor, what he's done for the sport. Our sport wouldn't be as big as it is now if it wasn't for him. He took it to a new level, so getting the chance to fight him would be amazing.' McGregor is yet to return from breaking his leg in a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021. Pimblett admits that despite his desire to face McGregor, it likely won't happen. 'You know what? I've said for years, 'Yeah, I think he will (fight again),' but the longer it goes, I'm starting to doubt it,' Pimblett said.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Paul Hughes explains the 'sad' reality behind Conor McGregor's 'tweeting madness,' won't accept apology if given
Paul Hughes didn't get the desired result in his first major MMA world title fight, but he was still a winner in the big picture. At PFL Dubai, the proud Irishman pushed undefeated PFL lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov to his limits in their five-round title tilt this past Saturday. Hughes ultimately came up short in a hard-fought decision loss, but garnered praise throughout the MMA community for his efforts. One voice, however, was surprisingly loud with an adverse reaction: Hughes' fellow countryman, Conor McGregor. Footage was released days after the title fight, capturing a moment between Hughes and Nurmagomedov in the cage. Hughes told his rival, "I'm not like this other guy. I'm my own man." The reference was to McGregor — a heated rival of the Nurmagomedov camp — as Nurmagomedov's coach and relative, Khabib Nurmagomedov, compared the two ahead of the bout. McGregor saw the clip and responded in deleted X posts that told Hughes, "Too right, YOU'RE NOT!" The former UFC two-division champion followed up his initial comment with more insults, telling Hughes to "get that flag off you you little know what you are c*** from up there," referring to Hughes' Northern Irish roots. Hughes responded to McGregor's comments Wednesday on Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show." "I wasn't offended at all. Now, a lot of people in Ireland, especially in the north of Ireland, couldn't be any more deeply offended about the thing he said," Hughes said. "But I'm not actually offended or didn't take it personally at all, because, it sounds bad, but it just seems like it's another day in his life of just tweeting madness. It's not like I seen that and went, 'Oh, I can't believe he said this about me.' I think it's just another day in the life for him. I just don't hold weight to his opinion anymore as to these sorts of things. "It's kind of a sad thing to say that, but that's actually just the reality of how I felt. In fact, I kind of just laughed at it when I seen it. It's not something I've been thinking about all day and going, 'Oh, this and my identity, and this and that.' It's like, yeah, initially I was like, 'Don't come at my identity. Like, that's ridiculous.' But then I was just like, 'This guy, he's on one, and I just don't care,' you know?" McGregor, 36, has long been a motivator for fellow fighters from his country of Ireland and many new fighters in general, thanks to his historic rise through the sport from 2013-16. Hughes highlighted his own inspiration drawn from "The Notorious" upon his arrival in the PFL in 2024. Hughes still admires the path McGregor paved for him and his fellow fighters, but times have undeniably changed. "I've always paid Conor homage at every opportunity," Hughes said. "I'll always say that he's the greatest to ever do it. Always will. I would say I'll always believe that. But nah, man, it honestly just didn't really bother me coming from him, because I just don't hold that much weight to what he says anymore — which is, as I say, kind of a sad thing." Ireland has historically been one of the greatest and most passionate fan bases in MMA. McGregor's rise exemplified that, as the country supported the former champion to incredible degrees, both in Ireland's home arenas and in the U.S. for his biggest fights. The outspoken McGregor has never been one to walk back any of the many shots he takes, and Hughes doesn't expect that to change with him. Ultimately, at least for now, he's not even in a place to accept a rescinding of McGregor's insults because of their gravity beyond fighting. "Not right now," Hughes answered when asked if he'd accept an apology. "More so not for me, but more so for my people, from where I come from, what he said. "Before I came on the show, I was scrolling Twitter and stuff — probably not a good idea — I kind of just realized it's actually one of the worst possible things that you could say to a fellow Irishman. Like, in terms of how deeply insulting it can be to someone personally. Now, as I said, I don't take much weight to it, I don't take it deeply personal. But people from my area certainly, certainly will. "Where I come from, Derry, has a — I don't even know how to describe it — a very tumultuous history when it comes to Irish history, and it's a very, very important place where a lot of important things happened," he continued. "It would be incredibly and deeply insulting to a lot of people where I'm from to say that we're not Irish. But I'll not get into history. I've told you my thoughts on how I felt about it. I could easily have just went off on one and just came on here and said this and that, but I just don't really care about what he says, and that's kind of sad." In response to Hughes' comments, McGregor returned to X and doubled down on his initial thoughts by posting the following, among several other insults. It's deplorable Sinead! No self respecting Irish man would grovel in this manner to a person who has disrespected their flag time and time again and that is a fact. A groveling weasel of the highest order! — Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) January 29, 2025 DERRY IS IRELAND! It is not true Irish behavior to grovel at the hands of someone who has disrespected your nation's flag and is playing a game right in your face as you bow and kiss feet. I am so embarrassed for him caught like that. Hughes born in Oz raised in Derry, trains… — Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) January 29, 2025 Boot licker Hughes — Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) January 29, 2025 'I love you Dagestan, I'm not like that other bad Irish man I can clean fields too' 😂 — Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) January 29, 2025 Hughes, 27, is hopeful he'll get an immediate rematch with the champion Nurmagomedov in his next PFL appearance. However, he's yet to return home from Dubai and is taking time to digest the scenes he just experienced. The build-up to the pair's first encounter had some quiet hostility behind it, though now there's a new competitive respect, as evidenced by their post-fight chat. Regarding the footage, Hughes was unaware the moment was being filmed and wishes it had been approached differently — not just by him, but also by the camera crew. "To be honest, when I woke up this morning, I seen it," Hughes said. "I think something like that is a very delicate thing, and firstly, when I seen it, I was kind of — to myself — I was like, 'Ah, the way you're saying that,' the way I referred to Conor as 'that guy' ... I didn't even remember this happening. Obviously, I just fought five rounds. It's just ended. I'm talking to many people. This is a short clip. There was a lot more going on than just this short clip. So when I seen that, just that little bit went out, I thought, 'Hmm, why put that out? Why not the rest of the conversation, or why not what he was saying to me, or why not anything else?' "I think that they knew what they were doing there 100%, and I kind of wasn't alright with that. Because I do know that they have to heavily proof everything with the Russian side, yet they didn't come to us with anything. I'm not making excuses. I mean, that's what I said. As I say, my initial thoughts were like, 'Ah, why'd you say it like that, Paul?' Like, 'that other guy' kind of sounds like a dickhead thing to say. "At the end of the day, I was just being honest in that moment," he continued. "I am my own man, as you well know. I'm my own person. I'm just trying to be me. I'm creating my own story here. I'm doing my own thing. So, just the initial way it came across, I was like, 'Oh, that doesn't sound too good,' but at the end of the day, what can I do about it? It's after a f***ing five-round fight. It's just a small thing that's been clipped up and, yeah, just is what it is like."
