UFC updates: Jon Jones, Conor McGregor, UFC on ESPN 9, and more.
The past week has been a busy one for the UFC as they continue to be one of the only “games” in town.
Conor McGregor accepts fight vs. Anderson Silva, gets interest from WWE
Eyebrows around the UFC universe raised last week when 45 year old UFC legend Anderson Silva called out current Pay-Per-View king Conor McGregor. In a translated Instagram post, Silva shared his respect for McGregor and suggested that a Super-fight at 176 pounds would be something that fans want to see. McGregor took to Twitter to simply state “I accept.” Later, the Notorious One seemed to suggest that he would be willing to fight at 185. Silva, 1-7 in his last eight fights seems determined to keep fighting, even though he is a shadow of his former self.
After McGregor was called out by Silva and by welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, Dana White had seen enough. According to White, he had a discussion with McGregor and told him to ignore the noise and focus on the lightweight division. McGregor is expected to fight this summer, but seems to be without an opponent as Justin Gaethje is headed for a showdown with Khabib Nurmagomedov in September with McGregor facing the winner. Could there be a fight against Paul Felder or Charles Oliviera? Time will tell.
After McGregor’s week of being called out by fighter and boxers, WWE executive Triple H told TMZ Sports that he would love to have McGregor and Daniel Cormier join the world’s largest wrestling company. Triple H stated “”I think that Conor McGregor versus McMahon with that Billion Dollar Walk on the line? I think that’s a match made in heaven!”
Jon Jones vacates Light Heavyweight title, stops vandals in his hometown
Last week, Dana White stated that Jones, not McGregor, was the best pound-for-pound fighter in UFC history. That designation is not enough, however, to pay “Bones” the amount of money that he reportedly wants. For his part, Jones has stated that he has not asked for any specific amount of money. In a recent quote, however, Jones did ask White to settle on half of Deontay Wilder money, which would mean a payday of $15,000,000. Jones and White have continued their war of words with White stating that Jones has tarnished his own name and Jones calling White a liar. Jones appeared to have enough on Sunday when he took to Twitter to state that he would relinquish the light-heavyweight belt and seemed to hint at retirement. Is this the real deal or a negotiating tactic being employed by Jones? Again, time will tell.
In other Jones news, apparently “Bones” hometown of Albequerque, NM is not one you want to target for vandalism. In a video posted to his Instagram account, Jones approaches two teenagers dressed in black and armed with spray paint and disarms them before they can do any damage. You can find the post on his Instagram @jonnybones.
Gilbert Burns is a force to be reckon with at Welterweight
UFC on ESPN 9 took place on Saturday night and introduced the world to Gilbert Burns. Burns dominated former champion Tyrone Woodley for a five round decision. Burns has won five in a row and has shot up the rankings to currently be positioned as the number one contender to champion Kamaru Usman.
Quick hits:
- Dana White has trademarked the name UFSea. This comes after John Oliver proposed the name for White’s “Fight Island” as a joke. White acknowledged that he stole the idea from Oliver, and will not be giving him a cut of the profits from merchandise sales.
- UFC 250, Nunes vs. Spencer comes our way this weekend. Check back in with the Maryland Sports Blog this week for a fight preview.
- Colby Covington leaves American Top Team (ATT) to set up his own team, Colby Covington Incorporated. Jon Jones claims that Covington was “banished” by ATT by those that “know him best.”
