Sport

Michael Chandler confident Conor McGregor returns, fires back at fighters criticizing him for waiting so long

Published

7 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Michael Chandler confident Conor McGregor returns, fires back at fighters criticizing him for waiting so long

Once Michael Chandler realized that he wouldn’t be fighting Conor McGregor before the end of 2024, he had to move on with his career.

He’s now slated to face Charles Oliveira in a five-round rematch as the co-main event for UFC 309 in November but he knew the moment that fight got announced, he would start hearing about how he wasted the past two years of his career. Actually, Chandler heard that plenty of times from his fellow fighters long before Oliveira fight got announced because so many of them already criticized him publicly for sitting and waiting for McGregor to finally return.

No matter how loud the noise got from other UFC athletes, Chandler knows without a doubt that just about every single one of them wanted to be in his position.

“It’s really funny,” Chandler told MMA Fighting. “You’ve had a thousand fighters sit here across from you and talk to you doing interviews and all of them who have said that I was Conor’s little whipping boy or I was waiting too long or I was wasting my career, every single one of them would have held onto this Conor fight even if they say publicly that they wouldn’t. Every single one of those guys wants this fight.”

While he’s satisfied with the choices he made, Chandler still believes he will eventually get to welcome McGregor back to the octagon after his last appearance came all the way back in 2021.

The fight may not happen as originally scheduled but Chandler is confident that McGregor is eventually going to compete again — he just can’t say when that might happen.

“I do think [he returns],” Chandler said. “Maybe I’ve just been so close to it and so focused on it that you just look at his history, Conor McGregor is a nothing, nobody without the sport of mixed martial arts. Without the UFC platform. Without the legacy that he has created.

“I believe he’s romantic about it. I believe that he loves the sport. I believe that his spirit loves the sport but sometimes his body and his brain want other things. I’ve never walked a mile in that man’s shoes, neither have you, so who are we to critique him? But I do believe he comes back and when he does, I’ll be waiting. I just might have the title by then.”

There’s a risk and reward with any fight but Chandler getting the rematch against Oliveira could potentially vault him back into title contention with a win or a loss could cost him the chance to settle the score with McGregor when he does return.

Chandler understands that’s the reality of his situation but he’s confident that his choices will eventually pay off.

“I still stand firm in the notion that Conor McGregor is coming back,” Chandler said. “When he does, his road goes through Nashville, Tenn. and Michael Chandler and we finish The Ultimate Fighter. But it’s not going to be my next fight. I am Conor’s next fight but he is not my next fight.”

The best possible reward for Chandler after this whole ordeal is that beating Oliveira at UFC 309 gives him even more options for the future.

Maybe that means welcoming McGregor back to the octagon in early 2025 or perhaps he waits for an eventual showdown with UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev instead.

Chandler has no problem betting on himself to win in November and then looking towards a very busy year ahead in 2025.

“When he gets his house in order, I’ll be waiting for him,” Chandler said about McGregor. “If not, I’ve got no problem beating Charles and going to fight for the title because if I had that choice today, I’m going to fight Islam after I beat Charles.”

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Football

Boniface's amazing trick pass sets up Leverkusen goal

Published

10 mins ago

September 20, 2024

NewsAdmin

Boniface's amazing trick pass sets up Leverkusen goal

Victor Boniface produces a brilliant trick pass before Alejandro Grimaldo scores Bayer Leverkusen’s second goal against Feyenoord.

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Sport

Champions League highlights: Bayer Leverkusen thrash Feyenoord in Rotterdam

Published

14 mins ago

September 20, 2024

NewsAdmin

Champions League highlights: Bayer Leverkusen thrash Feyenoord in Rotterdam

Watch highlights as Florian Wirtz inspires Bayer Leverkusen to a comfortable 4-0 win in their opening Champions League match against Feyenoord at the Stadion Feijenoord.

Watch highlights of every Uefa Champions League game on iPlayer

Available to UK users only.

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MMA

UFC could sign these 5 fighters with XXXX wins

Published

15 mins ago

September 20, 2024

NewsAdmin

UFC could sign these 5 fighters with XXXX wins

Record: 11-2
Age: 30
Height: 5’8″
Weight: Lightweight
Birthplace: Canada
Next fight: Sept. 6 def. David Briones (4-6) via unanimous decision at BFL 81 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (UFC Fight Pass)

The skinny: Jamie Siraj needed an outlet away from a “rough” home life. That’s when he joined Revolution Martial Arts. Former UFC fighter Kajan Johnson, who served as one of the head coaches. Siraj had his first fight at age 15 and was immediately hooked. After a 7-2 amateur career, Siraj turned pro in 2014. Since a 3-2 start, Siraj hasn’t lost. In 2019, Siraj was on the doorstep for a UFC call, aligned for Dana White’s Contender Series. However, Siraj fell ill and doctors didn’t know why. After a long, grueling period of his body failing, Siraj was diagnosed with hyper IGE Syndrome, an immunodeficiency disorder. It rendered him largely unable to function, septic, and near death. Through treatment, Siraj is now back to a largely normal life. In June 2023, for the first time in four years, Siraj fought and won for Battlefield Fight League. He was offered a spot on “The Ultimate Fighter 32,” but was one of the final cuts from the roster – a move that surprised him, considering he flew all the way out to Las Vegas. In May, he finished then-8-1 Tariel Abbasov by submission. In September, he defeated David Briones by unanimous decision.

In his own words: “I think this fight was 10 days notice or something like that. I was actually joking, but it was kind of how I felt. I was like, ‘Well, I’m not doing anything else that weekend, so I might as well. I have been training.’ After my last fight, I was just a little mentally burnt out from not getting a call to the Contender Series. I was just like, ‘Man, am I ever going to get in the UFC? Holy f*ck this just feels like I have to physically kill someone in a ring for them want to sign me.’ … Then, I took the fight on short notice, just for the f*ck of it. Thank God it all worked out and paid off, but it wasn’t my favorite performance of my career.

“… There’s no 145 fights on the card. But I’ve been working slowly on getting back down to 135, so if that way there is a short-notice pullout, I can jump in at 135. Unfortunately, there’s no fights at my division. But yeah, if that’s my opportunity to jump in at 135, then that’s kind of where my mindset is at being able to jump in and make weight at 135. I know there are quite a few 135ers on the card. A lot of them are kind of entry level guys, guys you’d be getting on your first fight or two in the UFC. I kind of have my eye on everyone that’s at 135 from top to bottom. There’s a lot of good 135 matchups. Physically, when I was at 135, I just felt so much stronger and so much faster and bigger than everyone. So if I can make that division again and make weight, yeah I feel like I’d be such a problem at 135, too.”

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Sport

Griezmann's 'sensational finish' for Atletico

Published

35 mins ago

September 20, 2024

NewsAdmin

Griezmann's 'sensational finish' for Atletico

Watch as Antoine Griezmann’s “sensational finish” sees Atletico Madrid equalise against RB Leipzig during their opening match in the Champions League.

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MMA

UFC fighter Conor McGregor announces retirement

Published

36 mins ago

September 20, 2024

NewsAdmin

UFC fighter Conor McGregor announces retirement

He busted the nose of Cerrone in the fight’s first skirmish before finishing him in a first-round TKO.

McGregor had not won since November 2016 when he stopped Eddie Alvarez, the lightweight, to become the first fighter in UFC history to hold two championship belts at the same time.

McGregor then fought his only boxing match with Floyd Mayweather in 2017 before losing a one-sided UFC bout to lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018.

UFC President Dana White has already said McGregor is next in line for a title shot at the winner of lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov’s bout with Justin Gaethje this summer.

The UFC’s schedule is in upheaval due to the coronavirus pandemic, but McGregor was expected to get his title shot later this year, and he recently had been talking to White about taking another fight even earlier. Earlier this week, McGregor posted photos and videos of himself training for fights.

White was still willing to take McGregor’s retirement announcement at face value – at least publicly – when he learned about it at his news conference following UFC 250 in Las Vegas.

“If Conor McGregor feels he wants to retire, you know my feelings about retirement,” White said.

“You should absolutely do it. And I love Conor.

“There’s a handful of people that have made this really fun for me, and he’s one of them.”

Retirements are a time-honoured device for gathering attention and increased bargaining power in combat sports. From Muhammad Ali and Floyd Mayweather to Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell, countless champions of boxing and MMA have gone back on their solemn announcements whenever need or ego brought them back to the sport.

The 31-year-old retires with a 22-4 record.

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