‘It’s been nothing but mixed martial arts’ McGregor talks training camp for UFC 264
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McGregor, who treated the Poirier rematch as a warm-up for a boxing showdown with Manny Pacquiao, revealed during a recent Instagram Live session that he has been taking the trilogy very seriously.
‘The Notorious’ got the ball rolling by reading a comment from none other than Justin Bieber who, judging by the Instagram Live session, is a huge fan of the Irishman.
“Justin I love you bro, I’ll tell you I appreciate that message from the last fight,” McGregor said (h/t Ryan Harkness of MMA Mania). “That meant a hell of a lot to me, it really, truly did.”
Zhang Weili Says Loud Boos At UFC 261 Impacted Performance
Weili Zhang, Photo Credit: Brandon Magnus/Zuffa
Zhang Weili admits that the hostile Florida crowd did impact her performance in the UFC 261 co-main event.
When fans boo a fighter during a UFC event, it’s uncertain if the fans expect those boos to actually make a difference or if it’s merely an expression of disdain. After all, it’s not as if it’s an NBA event where an opposing player is at the free-throw line and the home crowd is trying to influence his shot. In MMA, fans could be booing a fighter for any number of reasons.
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC
For those of you hoping UFC 261 would wash away the stain that was the Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren fight from last weekend: unfortunately, it did not. Paul was actually in the building for UFC 261 last night in Jacksonville, Fla., and he made his presence known through the night as the crowd chanted expletives in his direction and Daniel Cormier wagged his finger in the young YouTuber’s face.
After the fights, Dana White was asked what he thought of Paul’s impact, in general and on the mood inside Vystar Memorial Arena.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this kid has done a good job putting himself in a place to make some money,” White said. “Good for him, he’s got you guys talking about him all the time, asking questions about him, got Daniel Cormier running after him, so he’s doing something right. He knocked out an NBA guy who was forty years old and thirty pounds less than him and I don’t even know what do think about th
Manager: Khamzat Chimaev will return ‘with a vengeance’ this summer
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Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
The exact number of UFC fighters that have contracted COVID-19 over the past year isn’t known, and we assume there are more than a few serious cases where fighters struggled to recover from the potentially deadly illness. As it stands, the big UFC names who have been affected most by the Coronavirus are Cody Garbrandt, Khamzat Chimaev, and Alexander Volkanovski.
Garbrandt and Chimaev are what’s known as COVID long-haulers, people who have recovered from the virus but suffered through side effects for months afterwards. Cody Garbrandt told some pretty scary stories about blood clots, while Khamzat Chimaev seemed on the edge of retirement at one point as he coughed up blood every time he exerted himself.
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One of the big questions we had once Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren was announced properly announced, not ginned up by Chael Sonnen in Dec. 2020 was how Paul managed to get UFC’s permission to fight the YouTube personality. Despite being retired, “Funky” is still under UFC contract, and any sporting endeavor like this requires the promotion signing off on it.
That could have potentially stopped things dead in their tracks. UFC is known for being pretty picky when it comes to giving this kind of permission, and company president, Dana White, and Askren have some history of butting heads and not getting along.