Gamesmanship? Maybe. But the unbeaten Dagestani had no time for his tardy opponent ahead of Saturday’s UFC title showdownKhabib Nurmagomedov wasn’t about to wait for the pomp and circumstance of a video package to accompany him to the stage.He certainly wasn’t going to wait for Conor McGregor to show up. Related: UFC ignores Conor McGregor's troubles as it targets Nurmagomedov payday Related: Why the UFC's 'sportswashing' of Chechnya’s dictator is a problem Continue reading...
The Irishman’s tiresome act is doing more to destroy the UFC’s hard-won credibility than any stomach-turning brawl or failed doping testWatching Conor McGregor racing through the loading dock at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Thursday, throwing dollies at a bus like some crazy-eyed hooligan, I could only think of John McCain. It was the US senator who years ago denounced the UFC as “human cockfighting”, affixing a label of lawlessness on mixed martial arts that pushed them into the corners of what was considered acceptable adult behavior. The UFC has worked for years to combat this image, with brain safety and doping mandates that helped attract a corporate buyer and led McCain to reconsider his opinion. Related: Conor McGregor charged with...
There was little to be learned after a predictable outcome to this money-spinning contest in Las Vegas between two proponents of very different disciplinesA bar is, on reflection, the best place to watch a bar fight. Ultimately, for Conor McGregor, there was time for neither much thinking nor a lot of what the Irishman would regard as proper fighting. He roughly doubled his Warholian 15 minutes of fame and considerably enhanced his wealth, while retaining a good deal of dignity in defeat.Yet, from our noisy spot in front of a screen in the Lansdowne Road Bar (where else?) in New York City on Saturday night, it was clear that what mental and physical space Floyd Mayweather allowed the mixed martial...
Most people predicted humiliation for the Irishman on Saturday night in Las Vegas. Instead, his bravery likely guaranteed him even more fame and wealthDeep into the fight that was supposed to be a farce, Conor McGregor swung, staggering the greatest boxer of his generation. Every McGregor punch seemed to come from a place that said he wouldn’t be a joke, a man wading into a world in which he didn’t belong. More than a few times on Saturday night he surprised Floyd Mayweather – and how many boxers have done that in the last 20 years?On the night McGregor was supposed to be exposed as a huckster with a mouth, he won by losing. He won by lasting more than...
Inspired by the Irish star’s upcoming super-fight, Jon Jones says he wants to fight 40-year-old Brock Lesnar. But the chase for money could hurt MMAJon Jones sat and waited from afar for the past two and a half years while UFC’s big-money era started without him. That’s why, mere minutes after his perfect finish of Daniel Cormier on Saturday, Jones moved on from the best performance of his career to the prospect of something — and someone — larger.“Brock Lesnar, if you want to know what it feels like to get your ass kicked by a guy who weighs 40lbs less than you, meet me in the Octagon,” Jones howled, in a statement directed at the pro wrestling star and...