Rafael dos Anjos better watch out, because Conor McGregor says: ‘I’ll come and get you’

It seems, no matter what the fight is that’s in front of Conor McGregor, he’s got another one cooking right behind it. He’s called out Diego Sanchez and Chad Mendes, notably, but this next idea is probably a lot more contingent on him winning the fight in front of him and taking the featherweight title from Jose Aldo… at least in the short term. All along the press tour, McGregor has been throwing barbs at newly minted UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos.

In Los Angeles:

“We will take Aldo and we will take dos Anjos, without a problem,” McGregor said during a media lunch. “The featherweights must beg now. They must beg for pardon, beg for forgiveness. If that’s the case, if they apologize and beg, I’ll leave the division. I won’t terrorize them anymore. They can have their division back. They can go back to being on the prelims and I’ll go to the lightweight division.”

In London:

“There’s another man who has spoke my name in vain,” McGregor said. “And what happens is, when you speak my name in vain, no matter how many years down the line, I’m like an elephant — I’ll never forget. I’ll come and get you.”

And again in Dublin, where McGregor made clear his future lightweight plans:

I will keep busy. One thing about me, I keep fighting, I keep busy. I’ve had three back to back to back fights before he’s even had one. So, I will be a busy champion. I will defend my belt many many times and I will attack that next division. There’s another Brazilian up in the lightweight division. Maybe I’ll whoop this Brazilian and whoop the other one on home soil.

It’s an ambitious plan, but McGregor’s never lacked for ambition. He’ll vie for the UFC belt, for the first time, on July 11th in Las Vegas, Nevada at  UFC 189. After that, who knows?

Transcripts taken from MMAFighting

Chad Mendes still smarting over Conor McGregor interview interruption: ‘The whole thing was bulls**t’

In the saga of Conor McGregor callouts, his brief feud with Chad Mendes, in the lead up to Aldo vs. Mendes 2 last October, seems practically like ancient history. If you’ll enter the way-back-machine with me briefly… Mendes was appearing on BTSport’s Beyond the Octagon series, hosted by Garreth A Davies, shortly before his second title shot against Jose Aldo. It just so happened that current title challenger Conor McGregor was on the show as well, live in studio. Never one to turn down an opportunity for drama, Davies asked Mendes to deliver a message to McGregor. Mendes replied that “When I see Conor, I see dollar signs in my bank account. I match up horrible for this guy.” McGregor told Mendes he’d rest his balls on Mendes’ forehead.

It was a quip that got Conor a lot of attention, and an exchange that Mendes is still not happy with, as he told Ariel Helwani on the March 30th edition of the MMA Hour. Most particularly, Mendes isn’t happy with the show producers for using his title shot as a chance to build McGregor’s star:

Yeah, I guarantee… I mean that’s 100% what I was thinking. I mean, I thought that whole thing was pretty much bullshit. I don’t know who the hell set that up, if it was the UFC or if it was those assholes over there… But no, man, that was pretty much bullshit. They didn’t tell me he was gonna get on there. I’m sitting there in Brazil, the quality of the interview sucked, it’s breaking up, I can’t really hear what the hell is going on over there, can’t see anything. Yeah, it was just… I’m, like, two days before I’m supposed to fight for the title. Yeah, I thought the whole thing was bullshit, you know? And I don’t know who set it up, I’d like to find out. I’d like to stomp somebody, but yeah, it was stupid, man. I couldn’t believe they did that.

You know, I feel what just sucked on my part is, I couldn’t hear what the hell was going on. And the crowd was so loud over there, I couldn’t hear any of the people talkin to me. I could just kinda hear Conor coming in and out, talking shit. So obviously, I can’t get anything across. So, he’s probably sitting over there all jolly, fucking, with his stupid little beard-moustache. It was just kind of a stupid situation. That was something I’d like to do face to face, staring across from him in the Octagon, so that he can run his mouth and I can whoop his ass after.

Chad Mendes is set to face Ricardo Lamas at UFC Fight Night Fairfax this Saturday, April 4th. It will be Mendes’ first fight back since losing to Jose Aldo at UFC 179.

Was it a slap? Was it a pull? Conor McGregor says what he did to Aldo was altogether different

Only a few days ago, Dana White told fans and the media how an incident on the UFC’s World Championship Tour drove Jose Aldo “crazy.” In his words, while on the set of TSN, McGregor “slapped” Aldo’s back, and the champ went nuts. Since then, Jose Aldo himself has come forward, to say that McGregor never slapped him, and instead it was a tug on his jacket. McGregor, however, had an entirely different memory of the event, which he gave during the UFC’s recent stop in London to promote the UFC 189 title bout between Aldo and McGregor (transcript via MMAFighting):

“I heard I slapped him in the back of the head,” McGregor said during the UFC 189 World Tour press conference Monday in London (h/t MMA Mad). “I didn’t slap him in the back of the head. I put my hand on his neck and I bent him over.”

Well, that’s certainly one way to look at it… I guess.

Of course, if you want to see how the whole thing really went down, you can check out episode 8 of UFC Embedded just below:

Video: Conor McGregor steals Jose Aldo’s belt at UFC Dublin press conference

The UFC’s World Championship Tour is ending on a wild note. Today at their final, Dublin event, Conor McGregor decided he wasn’t waiting until July to get a hold of Jose Aldo’s belt. The presser started with a huge ovation from the Irish fans and a lot of hate for Aldo. It was a raucous crowd, and when Jose Aldo told the crowd that he was the “real king of Dublin” and that they would be bowing to him once he’d beaten McGregor, things got a little out of hand.

Must Reads

Aldo vs. McGregor World Tour Dublin full replay

Mookie Alexander

Watch the UFC 189: Aldo vs. McGregor press conference in Dublin, Ireland right here on Bloody Elbow on Tuesday, March 31st at 1 PM ET/10 AM PT.

Embedded #8: McGregor’s ‘slap’ makes Aldo ‘crazy’

Zane Simon

Dana White talked about it just last week, saying that McGregor slapped Aldo’s back and Aldo “went crazy” that’s not quite how it ended up looking on video. But there’s now doubt that tensions are growing between the champ and the challenger.

Must Reads

Aldo vs. McGregor World Tour Dublin full replay Embedded #8: McGregor’s ‘slap’ makes Aldo ‘crazy’

McGregor, ever the promotional opportunist, used the raucous energy as the perfect chance to lunge in and snatch Aldo’s belt from in front of him. White stepped in to separate the two men, as McGregor shouted at Aldo “You’re looking at the king. You’re not the king of Dublin, you’re nothing.” It’s been nothing but controlled chaos all the way through; it’s just too bad the fight is still so far off.

Josh Barnett says Travis Browne would pay in a rematch: ‘You will get your ass handed to you’

Josh Barnett may not be sure when he’s coming back to the cage, but he does have at least one thing he’s certain about: If he and Travis Browne ever fight again, the results won’t be the same. Barnett and Browne faced off back at UFC 168, where Barnett was the slight favorite going in. Unfortunately for “The Warmaster” his first takedown attempt would be his last move of the fight, as Browne planted a series of elbows to Barnett’s temple, leaving the former UFC champion knocked unconscious at just one minute of the first round. It’s a loss Barnett appears to still have on his mind, as he talked about Browne’s post-fight behavior during a recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience(transcript via MMAFighting):

“Me? I don’t have any reason to be a f***ing prick, especially after I win. But, you know what, a guy wins, he feels like he’s on top of the world, that’s when you’re going to say some s**t like that, when you’re going to act out.

“If that’s the way it’s going to be, awesome. If we rematch it’s not going to be the same dude you fought that night. You have no idea. You really don’t get it. You will get your ass handed to you because now you gave me a reason to want to kick your ass.”

Barnett also spoke about his mindset heading into the fight and what he’s looking for going forward, saying that he’s not interested in “climbing the ladder”:

“I wasn’t into my last fight, to be honest,” Barnett told UFC commentator Joe Rogan. “I didn’t care. I just wasn’t ‘up’ for it. I trained and it got to a point where I was just like, ‘I’m over this. Who is [Travis Browne]? If I beat him, what does that do? Then I get to fight another guy and another guy? Where am I going with this?’ I’m not going to climb this f***ing ladder to prove that I deserve to fight for a title. I can fight for a title against anyone in any league, anywhere, anytime. F***in’, I’m a world championship level guy.

“I don’t need to prove that I belong here. I fought ‘Travis Browne’s’ all my career. They just had a different name at a different point in life. They had the same type of skillset. They’re basically the same type of guy. There will be another Travis Browne when Travis Browne is done being Travis Browne.”

Barnett also talks about being the youngest heavyweight champ, Battledome, early MMA training stories and much much more. You can check out the whole thing below.

Watch Conor McGregor’s ‘slap’ to Jose Aldo’s shoulder in Episode 8 of UFC Embedded

No “slapping”, really more of a friendly shoulder squeeze. Heck, it was practically a massage; a polite attempt by Conor McGregor to relieve a little of the champ’s tension… Or not. The dramatic terms in which Dana White described it just a couple days ago may have been a little outsized, but whatever you want to call it, it was enough for Jose Aldo to know just exactly what was intended. The latest episode of UFC Embedded, continues to document the rising tensions between champion and challenger on the UFC’s World Championship Tour to promote UFC 189: Aldo vs. McGregor.

Neither man appears to be missing a moment to take a dig at the other. Most particularly, Conor McGregor seems to be working overtime to stay in Jose Aldo’s head and get under his skin. Is it working? If Aldo’s reaction to McGregor getting handsy is anything to go by, I’d say it is.

Watch and you’ll also see Jose Aldo struggling to keep his schedule and the fighters stopped to sit in a replica of the Iron Throne as well. Lots more goodies in there, so check out the latest episode and stay tuned.

Welcome to the UFC, Mickael Lebout

The UFC’s Fight Night Krakow is a card in turmoil. Four bouts have seen fighters fall out due to injury, some multiple times. Lebout is the latest entrant on the Krakow card, replacing Gasan Umalaton, himself replacing Peter Sobotta, against Sergio Moraes. We’re still waiting on official word as to just who will be filling for Jason Saggo and his ruptured achilles tendon against Marcin Bandel. Still, France Fight reports that Lebout is set for his debut on April 11th, so…

Who is Mickael Lebout?

Another entrant on the 2015 Bloody Elbow Scouting Report, Crossfight’s Mickeal Lebout is on his way to the UFC. The 27-year old French fighter comes to the promotion with a 13-3-1 (1 NC) record compiled entirely on the European regional scene. Most recently he caputred a Polish MMA title fighting for Professional League of MMA. He trains alongside fellow UFC prospect Taylor Lapilus and former Bellator fighters Christian M’Pumbu and Karl Amoussou, along with a wealth of other regional prospects (including super talent Tom Duquesnoy). Over the course of his record, Lebout has wins over promising prospects Davy Gallon, Pawel Zelazowski, Albert Odzimkowski, and Damien Lapilus. Despite several losses, (and a no-contest to Nikolas Musoke) Lebout has an exceptionally strong regional MMA record, and is unusually well tested against good competition.

What you should expect:

As part of a cadre of European welterweights (including fighters like Glenn Sparv, Davy Gallon, and Johan Vanttinen), Lebout probably has the most UFC ready game, and highest chances of success on the international MMA scene. As an MMA native, Lebout has a strong everywhere, well-rounded game. He’s not an exceptional athlete, or an amazing wrestler, grappler, or striker, but he’s made a career out of being tough as hell and better than average in every aspect of the fight. He’s tough to submit and a great scrambler on the ground, has a surprisingly strong offensive wrestling game, and an aggressive stay busy striking style. Lebout is definitely at his best in the clinch and working from top position. He’s a good dirty boxer and has strong knees and a solid submission game. He’s not the best defensive wrestler out there, and his striking his more volume than technique, but he seems tough enough to make it work. He’s talked about moving down to lightweight, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him drop after this bout, win or lose.

What this means for his debut:

This is a tough fight for Lebout. He can probably beat Moraes standing, but his willingness to go to the ground and his generally mediocre takedown defense mean that it’s probably pretty likely that he’ll end up grappling with Sergio Moraes sooner or later. That’s almost certainly not a fight he’s going to win, even if he can compete and keep from getting submitted. Lebout can be a fun and tough fighter for the UFC, potentially even in something of a Mike Pyle sort of action fighter role. But, I’m not sure that starts out on a win here.

To get us better acquainted, here’s Lebout’s most bout against Davy Gallon from 2014:

Video: Street fight results in death threats for UFC title challenger Bethe Correia

Trouble just seems to find some people, and right now it’s all over Bethe Correia. The woman bantamweight contender is set to take on champion Ronda Rousey for a shot at the belt late this summer, but right now she’s more worried about threats on her life stemming from a reported recent altercation with a taxi cab driver.

Apparently, Correia and her boyfriend, Edelson Silva (a boxing coach for Anderson Silva) called a taxi to be picked up from their hotel in Rio de Janeiro. While waiting for the cab, it seems, they changed plans and decided to walk to a nearby restaurant. When they cab arrived and they informed the driver (reportedly named Cleonardo de Freitas Alves) of their change in plans, supposedly, he demanded that they pay him for his time lost. By Correia’s account, unhappy with the amount of money they offered him, the cab driver threatened that he would get his gun if they didn’t pay him more. And that’s when the fight started.

MMAFighting spoke to Correia about the incident and the fallout from it:

“He wanted us to pay him five reais (approximately two dollars), and I gave him seven. But he kept asking Edelson for more money, saying we wasted his time,” Correia told MMAFighting.com. “They started to argue and Edelson told him to f–k off, and that’s when the taxi driver left the car and started the fight with Edelson. They started to fight, to punch each other. My sister and I didn’t do anything.

“(Alves) said he would grab a gun at the glove compartment. When he said that, my sister went after him, but I pulled her away. I could have used all my martial art knowledge to stop him, but I didn’t want to fight. I was calm, but he was threatening us.

“The taxi driver didn’t even recognize me. When the police showed up, they wanted to take Edelson with him, but the hotel’s receptionist said ‘ah, that fighter over was also involved’, so they called my room and asked for me to go with them. The taxi driver didn’t recognize me, but now he wants to use this to become famous. Edelson was just protecting us. This is bulls–t. What would you do if a man says he’s grabbing a gun to threaten your family? Edelson was protecting us.”

Now, Correia says she’s been receiving threats over social media. She says she’s deleted most of them, but she’s saved at least one, since the man making it brandished a gun and called her a “Coward son of a bitch…. shitty monkey.” And has apparently made threats on her life as well as her boyfriend’s. You can see the messages below:

No information yet as to whether this will affect her ability to compete at UFC 190. Most likely it will not, but we’ll be sure to keep you updated with more information as it becomes available.

Anderson Silva compares McGregor to disrespectful Sonnen: ‘Everybody likes the cocky guy’

If anyone knows the value of an opponent that’s willing to talk a lot of smack, it’s Anderson Silva. The former UFC middleweight kingpin arguably found the brightest spotlight and biggest financial successes of his career off of his rivalry with perrenial contender Chael Sonnen. It’s a parallel that Silva was able to draw between Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor’s ongoing media tour, as reported by MMAFighting during a recent Q&A session in Brazil. However, that doesn’t mean that Silva’s support for that kind of fight promotion is unconditional, and he made it clear that “It’s nice to promote events, everybody likes the cocky guy, but you can’t cross that line.”

For Silva, it seems, Sonnen definitely crossed the line:

“Sonnen crossed the line a little bit, disrespected our country and disrespected me, which isn’t cool for our sport,” Silva said. “We have women and kids, older people watching this sport. It’s important to know how far we can go with promotion.

“If we don’t promote it the right way, people don’t see you with good eyes, and nobody would associate themselves with a guy that talks trash about the other guy’s country, the other guy’s wife. You have to promote the right way, with respect.”

Recently, we’ve heard Nova Uniao coach Andre Pederneiras talk about how he’s working on getting his fighters used to the idea of talking trash and working to promote fights in the media, but that there are a lot of cultural barriers to overcome for Brazilian fighters. So far, the UFC’s World Championship Tour is definitely building a lot of hype for Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor, but it’s likely that a lot of that is still down to McGregor’s constant verbal jabs.

Aldo and McGregor are set to face off at UFC 189 on July 11th in Las Vegas, Nevada. Stay tuned for more updates as the media tour continues and champion and challenger continue to trade blows through the media.

The MMA Prospectus: Looking back at UFC Fight Night Rio & a TUF 21 & Brazil overview

It’s not a UFC fight week, but there’s still a ton to talk about in the world of MMA prospects and MMA development. T.P. Grant isn’t here with us this week, and frankly we’re worried that his grappling addiction may have finally caught up with him. If any of you all have seen him lately, tell him that we miss him and we love him and we just want him to come home…

Otherwise, we’re talking about the prospect performances of UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. LaFlare, Christos Giagos and Fredy Serrano looked great, Gilbert Burns overcame a brief bout of humanity, and Andre Fili and Tony Martin are still battling past demons. Pat and I also took it upon ourselves to break down the two upcoming seasons of the Ultimate Fighter. We’re really looking forward to seeing what Kamaru Usman, Carrington Banks, Uros Jurisic, and Michael Graves can do. On the Brazilian TUF side, Nikolas Motta, Raush Manfio, Leandro Higo, Matheus Mattos are our big favorites to do well and possibly win the whole thing. We also had a few fighters to watch on this week’s Bellator and WSOF cards, so check it out.

As always, if the Ooyala version isn’t working for you, you can watch the show over on YouTube. While you’re there, remember to give the show a “Like” if you enjoyed it and to subscribe to MMANATIONDOTCOM for more Bloody Elbow interviews and analysis.

Oh, and here’s an audio only version: MMA Prospectus: Rio/TUF AUDIO ONLY