Aldo: No moral victory in McGregor’s loss

Aldo speaks about the series of laugh-crying emojis he tweeted in the moments after McGregor lost to Mayweather.

First of all, I didn’t even watch the fight. I was at a football game… I don’t know. I have people who take care of my social media… You know every athlete has people who handle their social media – who work their social media.

And the ex-champ says he wasn’t particularly surprised when he heard the result.

Conor doesn’t have good cardio, and (they) knew he’s not used to boxing. Mayweather was closed up, just waiting for the time to pounce. The guy hadn’t fought for two years. He didn’t even prepare for the fight.

Asked if thought McGregor won a moral victory by lasting ten rounds:

Of course not. Moral? First of all, you try to prove that with someone who’s almost 41, who’s been away (from the sport). Of course, it was a money fight. A moral victory would have been taking on an active boxer, a champion, and then fought him. And then you’d see how he would barely last a round. Because it’s an entirely different sport. We need to put ourselves in our places. I’m an MMA athlete. I can’t go tomorrow and say I’m going to do muay Thai in Thailand with a Thai fighter, because I can punch and kick well. There’s no way. Each one in their places. I respect martial arts, so I put myself in my place. I don’t see a moral victory.

Coach Roddy: ‘I was heartbroken’

Coach Roddy appears on ‘The Late Late Show’, to talk about how difficult it was for McGregor and the whole team when the fight didn’t go their way.

I was heartbroken. I don’t only work with Conor, Conor’s a good friend of mine. We’re training partners and sparring partners for many years, and then I took up the coaching role. When you see what somebody puts in — the amount of hours he puts in, the amount of sacrifices he makes and the team makes — when you see all of that, and you’re all working together for one moment, for that night, and it doesn’t go your way sometimes — it’s heartbreaking. I was very upset over the fight, because I know how bad he wants it, and I know how bad the team wanted it.”

The impact of McGregor's loss on his team | The Late Late Show | RTÉ One

Malignaggi: McGregor ‘has no balls’

McGregor’s former sparring partner, Malignaggi, doesn’t think McGregor made a valiant effort against Mayweather.

The guy has no balls. When you back him into a corner he’s a little pussycat. He quit. If you don’t throw a punch for over a minute, you quit buddy. You can explain it any way you want … you quit buddy, you absolutely did.

Malignaggi, who left McGregor’s team over a series of leaked photos from their sparring sessions, then went on to reiterate his desire to settle his differences with McGregor in the boxing ring.

I don’t like the guy, I never will like the guy, personally I think he’s a scumbag. Just the fact I could sink my fist into his face — I would love that. The fact I could get him looking like the sissy that he is — I would love that.

Former ringside doctor says McGregor may have been hurt more than many think

Darragh O’Carrol, a former ringside doctor and emergency physician, gives his professional opinion on stopping the fight, Saturday night. McGregor claimed after the fight that he was more fatigued than hurt, but O’Carrol agreed with referee Robert Byrd’s decision to call an end to the fight at the moment he did. O’Carrol explained that Byrd likely didn’t call off the fight due to signs of McGregor just being tired. O’Carrol said as an Irishman, and a self-admitted McGregor fan, that he would like to believe McGregor was just fatigued in the 10th round, but, as a physician and former ringside doctor, he believes the fight was stopped at the right time and for the right reasons.

Byrd’s calculation to call a stoppage was likely not based on signs of fatigue, but rather signs of traumatic brain injury. Ataxia, or dizziness and loss of balance, is one of the hallmarks of concussion, a type of mild traumatic brain injury. Fatigue may cause sluggish and slow movements, but does not cause the imbalance and poor coordination exhibited by McGregor in the 10th round. Being wobbly, in the setting of pugilistic trauma, will always be treated as the result of head trauma and not as fatigue. To let a fighter continue on would be grossly negligent. Continuing the fight would have put McGregor at risk for continued head trauma, [or] repetitive damage leading to a severe traumatic brain injury such as a brain bleed. It wouldn’t be the first time a boxer experienced this, as was tragically the case just this year to young Daniel Franco, who required emergency neurosurgery to save his life.

Coach: Diaz ‘needs to get paid at least $30 million’ for McGregor trilogy

Diaz’s boxing coach Richard Perez says he hopes the big payout for McGregor from the Mayweather fight, could mean more money for his future UFC opponents, particularly Diaz. Diaz’ last two UFC fights were against McGregor in 2016, and he made $2.6 million dollars in those bouts combined. After seeing what McGregor made against Mayweather, and the potential money that could be made in a trilogy bout with McGregor in the UFC, Perez expects 10 times more.

At least $20 million, $30 million. Come on! UFC’s making a whole lot of money, a whole lot of money and they’re pocketing it. They’re giving more to McGregor, so it’s not fair because it takes two in that ring to draw a crowd – I mean, a good two fighters. It’s just like Mayweather when he fought Berto. It was not even sold out at all. It was embarrassing. It’s because that guy couldn’t draw a crowd. See, that’s what I’m saying, it’s the fighters that draw the crowd, and Nathan and McGregor, third one would be outstanding. Everyone knows that. So he needs to get paid at least $30 million easy.

McGregor calls out Diaz to complete trilogy at 155lbs

McGgregor calls out Diaz for a third fight as his return to the UFC octagon. It’s 1-1 between the two fighters and McGregor is offering Diaz a shot at his lightweight title should the California fighter want to meet him for a third time. McGregor believes that because he re-matched and beat Diaz at 170 pounds, it’s only fair that Diaz comes down to 155 pounds to meet him for the decider.

I faced him at 170lbs, he beat me. I re-matched him at 170lbs, I beat him. Now I’m the 155lbs champion, now if he wants that fight, he must come down – that’s a fair trade. I didn’t ask for the rematch at a lower weight. I asked for it at the exact same weight. I thought that was a fair play move on my behalf and I came in and I won. So now I won the 155lb title after that, so if he wants the fight he has to make the 155lb limit.

McGregor reveals how he could have beaten Mayweather

McGregor believes one change to his training camp could have altered the result of his fight with Mayweather. In a lengthy Instagram post, McGregor pays tribute to his team and his opponent, but also admits he could have done with more time to prepare.

Just coming back around after a whirlwind couple of days. Thank you to all the fans for the support of the fight and the event! Without your support we as fighters are nothing so I thank you all! Thank you to my team of coaches and training partners! I had an amazing team and It truly was an amazing and enjoyable camp, and honestly I feel with just a little change in certain areas of the prep, we could have built the engine for 12 full rounds under stress, and got the better result on the night. Getting to 12 rounds alone in practice was always the challenge in this camp. We started slowly getting to the 12 and decreasing the stress in the rounds the closer it got to 12. I think for the time we had, 10 weeks in camp, it had to be done this way. If I began with a loaded 12 rounds under much stress I would have only hit a brick wall and lost progress as a result and potentially not made the fight. A little more time and we could have made the 12 cleanly, while under more stress, and made it thru the later rounds in the actual fight. I feel every decision we made at each given time was the correct decision, and I am proud of everyone of my team for what we done in the short time that we done it. 30 minutes was the longest I have fought in a ring or cage or anywhere. Surpassing my previous time of 25 minutes. I am happy for the experience and happy to take all these great lessons with me and implement them into my camp going forward. Another day another lesson! Congrats to Floyd on a well fought match. Very experienced and methodical in his work. I wish him well in retirement. He is a heck of a boxer. His experience, his patience and his endurance won him this fight hands down. I always told him he was not a fighter but a boxer. But sharing the ring with him he is certainly a solid fighter. Strong in the clinch. Great understanding of frames and head position. He has some very strong tools he could bring into an MMA game for sure. Here is a toast of whiskey to everyone involved in this event and everyone who enjoyed it! Thank you to you all! Onto the next one!

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Michael Phelps challenges McGregor to a swimming race

Because McGregor recently swapped the octogan for the ring, Phelps is considering challenging McGregor in the pool. He asked his 2.2 million strong Twitter following if he should step out of retirement and challenge McGregor to a swimming race. Earlier this year, Phelps raced a ‘shark’ as part of a Discovery Channel publicity stunt. The shark was created using CGI and beat Phelps by two seconds in the 100 metre race, but viewers expressed disappontment that he hadn’t jumped in the water with a real deadly predator.

Chael Sonnen: McGregor vs Diaz III is next

Former UFC middleweight Chael Sonnen, says McGregor’s next fight will be a rubber fight with Diaz:

I think [McGregor] is going to fight in the UFC. A little inside information, I think it’s Nate Diaz next.

McGregor says he is open to settling the score with a third deciding fight with Diaz by year’s end, recently saying:

I have certainly many contenders in the mixed martial arts game. I have a trilogy bout with Nate Diaz that’s sitting there, I have options.

McGregor-Mayweather breaks the all-time PPV record

Dana White says that last weekend’s super-fight has generated a record-breaking 6.5 million pay-per-view buys, a figure which would dwarf the previous record of 4.6 million, set by Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, by almost 2 million. This is despite the 3million people who illegally streamed the fight. The final figure could be higher, as it doesn’t include sales outside the United States. It will also mean that McGregor holds the pay-per-view record for both boxing and mixed martial arts. The 6.5 million figure also beats the cumulative total for the top five UFC pay-per-views in the company’s history, and is five times larger than any WWE PPV event ever. The fight will go down in history as one of the single most profitable sports events ever.

McGregor given two-month ban for medical reasons

McGregor has been given a two-month suspension from all sport on medical grounds. The ban prevents McGregor from another fight – boxing or MMA – until at least October 26 and no physical contact at all until October 11. At the end of the ban period, Nevada State Athletic Commission will ask McGregor, 29, to take a medical exam. McGregor was spotted with a black eye hours after the fight, but otherwise looked in good shape. A medical suspension is given when a fighter is “determined by a physician to be unfit to compete” until “it is shown that he or she is fit for further competition …”

Estimated 3 million people illegally streamed McGregor-Mayweather fight

Almost 3 million people watched Saturday’s McGregor-Mayweather fight using illegal streams, according to web security company, Irdeto. Viewers used online links to get around paying the $99.95 charged in the US for the high-definition pay-per-view (£19.95 in the UK). 239 illegal streams of the fight were watched by 2,930,598 people. Had they all paid, even at a lower rate, the illegal audiences would have brought in at least $60 million more.

Mayweather Snr: If McGregor keeps boxing ‘somebody’s gonna kill him’

Floyd Mayweather Snr says he was not impressed with McGregor’s fight performance and warns McGregor that he could get killed if he continues to box professionally:

No I wasn’t impressed. I ain’t ever seen anyone talk like the way he talked and then go out there and fight like that. I mean that was pathetic, the way he fought. All the illegal punches and stuff he did, hitting someone on the back of the head. Doing everything, I mean come on man. All that kind of stuff is crazy. Let me tell you something. If he keeps fighting and doing that in boxing, somebody’s gonna kill him.

 

McGregor to overtake Ronaldo on Forbes athlete rich list… a year after he predicted he would

McGregor is set to overtake Cristiano Ronaldo on the Forbes athlete rich list, following his super-fight with Mayweather, which is expected to earn him around £77m — and that’s not including endorsement deals. Ronaldo topped the list this year with earnings of £71m. McGregor is renowned for his predictions, and foresaw overtaking Ronaldo when Ronaldo visited him in training last year.

McGregor: You were number one on the Forbes list, I was like number 35 or something. I’ll get up. Maybe next year I’ll get you.

Ronaldo: I don’t think so.

Irish lad sneaked into $80,000 front row seats without buying a ticket

Brian Grace, 19 years old, from Limerick, didn’t have a ticket for the McGregor-Mayweather fight, but he ended up in front row seats worth $80,000. All he did was carry a ladder. Brian was in Vegas with two friends, who both had tickets to the main event, but Brian did not. However, he soon found himself in the front row.

There were two different security check-points. The first one was metal detectors and sniffer dogs. I hung around for a bit and then I noticed that Conor’s family – not his close family, maybe his extended family, like his cousins or something – they all turned up. I was well dressed, so I just walked in with them, and there was so many of them that it wasn’t a problem…I was walking around a bit and I noticed this ladder just lying there by a door, so I picked it up and walked in, no security pass or anything, just straight through this door. Then I put the ladder down, found my mates inside and we played the waiting game.

Snoop Dogg trashes ‘punk ass’ Conor McGregor

Snoop Dogg, who has a long-standing relationship with Dana White, trashes McGregor:

50 and 0 n****. The motherf***ing champ, n****. 50 and 0. F*** that motherf***ing punkass McGregor, you b****. F*** him. Motherf***ing champ, n****. Yeah, n****. That’s what you get for coming to a motherf***ing gang fight with a butter knife you b***ass motherf***er. F*** you, n****. Money Team champ, n****. Where the party at, Floyd? Yeaaah! Hey, 50 and 0, n****.

And then some compliments:

Hey, McGregor a bad motherf***er though. I’ll give him his, he got heart. He got heart. Good win tonight champ. Good fight McGregor, that was a great f***ing fight, man. Now we celebrate.

50. 0

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Sugar Ray Leonard praises McGregor’s ‘boxing talent’

On his way home from the fight, Leonard talks about McGregor:

An incredible night of boxing…Very impressed with McGregor. Quite surprised how he held on, how he exhibited boxing talent…He held his own…McGregor, keep your chin up.

Sugar Ray Leonard "Very Impressed with Conor McGregor" Gives Conor Respect

McGregor launches ‘Notorious’ Irish whiskey that could earn him $100m

McGregor is using his high-profile bout with Mayweather to plug his own brand of whiskey – and he says he’s going to dominate the drinks market with it. Dressed in a cream suit adorned with colourful paisley patterns, he repeatedly swigged from a glass of the whiskey – making sure it appeared in the majority of press photos. He says he plans to “take over the Irish whiskey market” with the Notorious-branded drink. Speaking at the post-fight press conference:

Boy that whiskey tastes so good. Oh s***, keep an eye out for it.

McGregor gained more than a stone between weigh-in and fight

McGregor piled on more than a stone in weight in the hours before the fight with Mayweather. At Friday’s weigh-in he tipped the scales at 153lb — just under the 154lb limit for the contest. Then he started to refuel and rehydrate so that he claimed he was back to his ideal “fighting weight” of 170lb before entering the ring. McGregor reached the 154lb weigh-in limit by drinking little water over several days and not eating carbohydrates.

Conor McGregor parties with fans after Mayweather loss

McGregor parties with fans, including Orlando Bloom, at Encore Beach Club in Las Vegas, after his TKO loss to Floyd Mayweather. McGregor personally paid $100,000 so his entourage could enjoy free drinks and private cabanas.

You’ll never beat the Irish.

Amir Khan: McGregor could beat Paulie Malignaggi

Khan talks about McGregor’s performance.

Conor’s such a big guy. I think why he got stopped was he got tired. He wasn’t hurt. Whoever was in the ring with him, if they had been smart, he would have ran our have gas, and he would have ended up getting caught him with a couple of shots, like Mayweather caught him…I give him a lot of respect. I’d give him a B minus…Floyd’s timing is good…[Conor] would beat Paulie Malignaggi.

AMIR KHAN IMMEDIATE REACTION AFTER MAYWEATHER-MCGREGOR; THINKS CONOR BEATS MALIGNAGGI IF THEY FIGHT

McGregor-Mayweather post-fight press conference

McGregor and Mayweather appear at the post fight press conference. Mayweather introduces McGregor, who comes on stage wearing a Paisley-patterned suit, holding a glass of whiskey in one hand and the bottle in the other. Both fighters share a brief hug.

It was a good fight. Thought I’d smoked him in the early rounds. But I tell you what, you’re one composed individual…Three game changes in the fight. Much respect. You came with it. It was a hell of a fight. I would have liked to see the end of the tenth. I have this patch where I get fatigue…I get a little wobbly…that, I have to work on…You’ve got to take your hat off to Floyd. A hell of a career. Congratulations. It was a bit of fun! The referee did a great job. I thought he finished it a bit early, but I respect his decision.

Mayweather vs McGregor: Conor McGregor Post-fight Press Conference

McGregor’s post-fight interview

McGregor is interviewed by ESPN’s Brent Okamoto:

I’ve been watching highlights, trying to work out what’s what. I think I smoked him in the early rounds. I was pretty handy with him, but then he changed his style. He Put his hands up, came down low and put his forehead on his chest…He came forward. It threw me off. And he was composed on there…I felt like it was very close. I go through that wobbly stage, from fatigue. Let me go to the corner. Get down on a knee.

Conor McGregor's exclusive interview after losing to Floyd Mayweather | SportsCenter | ESPN

Pacquiao pays tribute to McGregor and Mayweather

Pacquiao gives tribute to McGregor and Mayweather.

Floyd Mayweather beats Conor McGregor by TKO

Floyd Mayweather beats Conor McGregor in the tenth round with a TKO. McGregor starts strong in the first two rounds. In the third round the fighters grapple more, with McGregor getting a warning for hitting Mayweather on the back of the head. In the fourth round, Mayweather comes back, while McGregor’s energy lowers. From the sixth round, Mayweather attacks aggressively. In the ninth McGregor appears very tired, with Mayweather going for the kill. In the tenth the referee stops the fight. Mayweather:

We talked about he’s a tough competitor. I told him that I owed him for the Pacquiao. He’s a lot better than I thought he was. He was a tough competitor, but I was the better man tonight. Out game plan was to go to him…Me and my dad talked about it. We wanted him to use all his heavy shots early…I guaranteed everybody that this fight wouldn’t go the distance. I want to thank all the fans around the world, and from Ireland, for coming…This was my last fight. Tonight I chose the right dance partner. Conor McGregor you’re a hell of a champion.

McGregor:

I took the early rounds pretty handy. He’s not that powerful, but he’s composed. Fair play to him. He’s had a great run. They should have let me keep going…I was just a little fatigued…I’ve been strangled on live TV and came back. I thought we were closed…Of course [I’ll get back to the UFC]…I’m just happy I’m here in the flag, with the fans.

McGregor walks out

McGregor walks out for his fight with Mayweather, to Sinead O’Connor’s The Foggy Dew. 

Mayweather vs. McGregor – Ring Walk

Here we go!! Conor McGregor making the walk right now on Sky Sports Box Office ➡️ http://bit.ly/2g9BnCE

Posted by UFC on Saturday, August 26, 2017

McGregor’s Irish fans take over Las Vegas

Ahead of McGregor’s fight with Mayweather, Irish fans crowd the streets and bars of Las Vegas. Fan:

The tickets were costly. We’ll probably have to starve for a couple of months but it was worth it. We’re here for Conor because we know he’s going to do it and we’re here to celebrate afterwards. I couldn’t get off work but I told them I have to get it off, I have to come here to support him.

Another fan:

My head says Mayweather, my heart says McGregor. If [Conor] hits him with one, he might finish him. I’m just here for a good time. We’re here on vacation and we happened to be here for the fight by chance. Just soaking in the atmosphere and the sun, having a good time.”

Live: Mayweather vs McGregor: Post-fight Press Conference

Mayweather and McGregor will appear at a post-fight press conference. Bookmark and refresh this page to access the live video.

Mayweather vs McGregor: Post-fight Press Conference

 

McGregor to get disclosed purse of $30 million

According to a document obtained from the Nevada Athletic Commission, McGregor will take home a disclosed purse of $30 million, which is 10 times bigger than any public one he’s made in the UFC. Mayweather will make $100 million. Both McGregor and Mayweather will both make much more than those purses in total. McGregor has said he’ll make upwards of $100 million for the bout, while Mayweather has floated that he could make $300 million. McGregor’s highest public purse up until this point was $3 million for his rematch with Nate Diaz at UFC 202 in August 2016 at T-Mobile Arena.