Conor McGregor has offered some business advice to the lineal UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou.
Ngannou’s recent fallout with the UFC was likely aided by his choice in representation. A simple fix, McGregor suggests.
“Correct representation is imperative,” The Notorious One wrote on an Instagram story that also suggested Ngannou partner with Paradigm Sports – McGregor’s own management team and a business he has a vested interest in.
Paradigm Sports, owned and operated by McGregor’s long-time friend and business partner Audie Attar, touts a roster of elite UFC talent including Leon Edwards, Israel Adesanya, Jiri Prochazka, along with many other current contenders – safe to say they’re in the UFC’s good graces.
Is it sound advice? Possibly. Is it self-serving? Definitely.
The AllStar MMA roundup
- The AllStar MMA Live: UFC Vegas 67 Reaction, Recap
The best of the rest
- Stipe Miocic wanted UFC 285 fight with Jon Jones, disappointed UFC ‘went a different direction’– MMAFighting.com
- Mauricio Rua ‘retiring from all sport’ at UFC 283, won’t return to combat – MMAJunkie.com
- Brandon Moreno details forced split from James Krause, coaching adjustments for UFC 283– MMAJunkie.com
- Arnold Allen reveals injury prevented him from accepting UFC 286 co-main event slot: ‘It has been the story of my life’ – MMAFighting.com
- ‘Let’s say I referee 800 fights, and I f–d up in four’ – Ex-UFC ref Yamasaki responds to critics – BloodyElbow.com
The soapbox
Sean O’Malley eyes the co-main:
Muhammad Mokaev calls out one of the UFC’s biggest sponsors:
A tale of USADA and poop:
Thin Figgy:
Sean Strickland being a menace:
Gilbert Burns goes off over UFC rankings:
Izzy gives T-wrecks props:
Yanez re-ups:
Cyborg wants round two:
Scrappers delight:
The morning view
Shannon Ross on his hometown UFC debut at UFC 284:
Francis Ngannou has his say:
Dan Hardy breaks down the quadrilogy between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno:
Episode 3 of UFC 283 Embedded:
MMAI takes a deep dive into UFC management in a new series:
Done Deals
Thursday:
- Valentina Shevchenko to fight Alexa Grasso at UFC 285 on March 4th (per Carlos Legaspi)
- Edson Barboza to fight Billy Quarantillo at UFC event on April 15th (per Billy Quarantillo)
- Dustin Jacoby to fight Azamat Murzakanov at UFC event on April 15th (per Nolan King)
- TJ Brown to fight Bill Algeo at UFC event on April 15th (per Mike Heck)
- Rob Font to fight Adrian Yanez at #UFC287 on April 8th (per Mike Heck)
- Francis Marshall to fight William Gomis at UFC event on April 22nd (per La Sueur)
Wednesday:
- Petr Yan to fight Merab Dvalishvili at UFC Vegas 71 on March 11th (per The Las Vegas Review-Journal)
- Martin Buday to fight Jake Collier at UFC event on April 15th (per Nolan King)
- Ignacio Bahamondes to fight Nikolas Motta at UFC 287 on April 8th (per Carlos Legaspi)
- Iasmin Lucindo to fight Melissa Martinez at UFC event on April 22nd (per MMA Melotto)
Tuesday:
- Michelle Waterson-Gomez to fight Luana Pinheiro at UFC 287 on April 8th (per Brett Okamoto)
- Muhammad Mokaev to fight Jafel Filho at UFC 286 on March 18th (per Brett Okamoto)
- Karol Rosa to fight Norma Dumont at UFC event on April 22nd (per AG Fight)
Monday:
- Jon Jones to fight Cyril Gane for the Vacant UFC heavyweight title at UFC 285 on March 4th (per Dana White/T-Mobile Arena staff 😂 )
- Champion Leon Edwards to fight Kamaru Usman at UFC 286 on March 18th (per UFC announcement)
- Justin Gaethje to fight Rafael Fiziev at UFC 286 on March 18th (per Brett Okamoto)
- Junior Tafa to fight Austen Lane at UFC 284 on February 11th (per ESPN)
UFC Roster Watch
Fighters removed this week:
- Francis Ngannou
- Sijara Eubanks
- Michael Trizano
- Liudvik Sholinian
- Marcelo Rojo
- Jay Perrin
- Alejandro Perez
- Raulian Paiva
- Gadzhi Omargadzhiev
- Kevin Natividad
- Vince Morales
- Brandon Davis
- Carlos Mota
- Jeff Molina
Fighters Added this week:
- Junior Tafa
- Christian Duncan
- Elves Brenner
- Gabriel Bonfim
- Ismael Bonfim
- Brunno Ferreira
- Daniel Marcos
Credit to UFC Roster Watch
On this day in MMA…
On the 19th of January 2019, the UFC held their first event under a new partnership deal with broadcast giant ESPN; and like the first event on their previous deal with FOX, boy did it leave a bad taste in fans’ mouths.
The Fight Night’s main event featured a flyweight title bout between then-champion Henry Cejudo and champ-champ hopeful TJ Dillashaw, who made the move down from flyweight (with some assistance).
Regardless of Dillashaw’s ‘enhancements’, his cut to 125 pounds was brutal. Cejudo, ironically an Olympic wrestling gold medalist, managed to floor TJ Dillashaw with a flurry of strikes that lead to a TKO victory for the reigning champ just 32 seconds into the first round.
Also featured on the card were domestic abuser Greg Hardy, who lost via disqualification in the co-main event, and recent domestic abuse victim Rachel Ostovich opposite Paige VanZant. Talk about tone-deaf.