Conor McGregor may not have a fight scheduled and he may not have an event to promote but even a relatively quiet week for the UFC featherweight champion means he’s not been out of the headlines all week. Here’s a pick of the ‘Notorious’ leading reports from the past seven days.
UFC 202 PED tests clean
Following his rematch with Nate Diaz at UFC 202 last month, the post fight drug tests carried out by the Nevada State Athletic Commission have come back clean for both McGregor and Diaz. There was some concern Diaz might get in trouble for use of a vape pen containing CBD (cannabis) oil, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
UFC 202 breaks records
Speaking of UFC 202, we all knew Diaz and McGregor, both polarizing figures of the sport, would attract a large audience and if UFC 196 was any indications it was on course to perhaps break records. It did. According to a report by Dave Meltzer for MMA Fighting, UFC 202 is now the number one most purchased pay-per-view in UFC history getting an astronomical 1.65 million buys. The previous record was held by UFC 200, with a reported 1.6 million.
Good friends, better enemies
Current UFC interim featherweight champion José Aldo has been playing down his rivalry with McGregor through a tongue-in-cheek interview with Bloody Elbow. Aldo said: “It’s a friendly relationship. I don’t have a problem with him trying to promote himself. One day we were hanging out and he said he was going to get the coffee and I said I wanted mine with sugar and he said something like ‘nice’. Most of the times we met, there was always someone recording us, though, so he had to keep his persona up. With no cameras, he changes completely.”
However, for a taste of Aldo’s true feelings towards the Irishman we’d recommend pre-ordering a copy of the November issue of Fighters Only – where the Nova Uniao star let’s his true feelings known about McGregor and the chances of their rematch.
Alvarez at UFC 205 in NYC?
With the UFC announcing a stellar fight between ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone and Robbie Lawler as part of their promotional debut in New York City for UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden, the rumour mill continues to turn with McGregor vs. Alvarez now supposedly headlining the card for the 155lb championship. If it happens it might be Christmas come early for McGregor and fight fans but Alvarez promises to be a scrooge. In an interview with MMA Fighting the current lightweight champion revealed more.
“I feel like if this fight is signed and it happens, I feel like I’m about to tell the whole world that there’s no Santa Claus,” said Alvarez. “And everybody is gonna be disappointed. There’s no Santa Claus. He don’t exist. It was a lie and I’m gonna steal the magic from everyone. The magic is gone. And I can’t wait. It’s gonna be a great time for me.”
