Conor McGregor has noticed some striking resemblances between his rivalry with Nate Diaz, and that of Amanda Nunes and Juliana Pena.
Yesterday, McGregor took to Twitter to share his thoughts on the similarities: Nunes lost to Pena in a second-round submission last November before redeeming herself at the weekend with a five-round decision victory. The results eerily echoed McGregor’s outcomes from his two fights against Diaz in 2016.
“It’s mad to me the similarities,” McGregor said. “Fight number one, the highly touted, the GOAT of the sport, me, Amanda Nunes, just sheer toughness, willingness to fight and caught off guard. Gives a couple of shots, then eats a couple of shots, then the tide turns, then gets choked.
“Now the return, the rematch, confidence on the other side, tenacity, toughness, all that still there. More focused work on Amanda Nunes’ side, my side [against Diaz].”
The AllStar MMA roundup
- Opinion: How do MMA contracts work? An insider’s take
- UFC Vegas 59: Terrance McKinney to show huge growth in fight IQ, shot selection to finish Erick Gonzalez
- Exclusive: Mark Hunt’s lacing up the boxing gloves once again: `I’ve still got the fire’
The best of the rest
- Dana White instantly second-guessed decision to let Deiveson Figueiredo in cage at UFC 277 – MMAJunkie.com
- Julianna Peña updates health day after UFC 277 loss to Amanda Nunes: ‘No chunks missing’ – MMAJunkie.com
- Deiveson Figueiredo reacts to Joe Rogan calling interim belt ‘the real world title fight,’ plans to ‘tell him what’s up’ – MMAFighting.com
- Magomed Ankalaev prepared to fight Jiri Prochazka: ‘I will go through him’ – MMAFighting.com
- Kai Kara-France speaks out following UFC 277 loss to Brandon Moreno: “I’ll be back!”- BloodyElbow.com
The call
Here’s a look at the odds at week’s open for the main and co-main events of UFC Vegas 59, presented by crypto sportsbook Cloudbet:
Thiago Santos (22-10) vs Jamahal Hill (10-1)
Vicente Luque (21-8) vs Geoff Neal (14-4)
The soapbox
Today on the soapbox – MMA Twitter reacts to the UFC 277 main event:
The morning view
JHK chops it up with Razor Rob Wilkinson ahead of the PFL playoffs:
The Weasle breaks down Derrick Lewis’ ‘early stoppage’:
Two champs react to the highs and lows of UFC 277:
Done deals
This week
- Leah Letson out – Julija Stoliarenko to fight Chelsea Chandler at UFC event on October 1st.
On this day in MMA…
On the 1st of August, 2015, Ronda Rousey would earn the final victory of her mixed martial arts career when she finished Bethe Correia with punches just 34 seconds into the opening round of their main event bout at UFC 190.
This win left the global “Ronda-mania” phenomena at an all-time high – however, she would retire from the sport just over a year later after definitively losing her next two bouts.
