Canelo Alvarez expects to make light work of Conor McGregor if the two were ever to meet in the boxing ring.
The super middleweight champion defends his WBA, WBC, and WBO titles against Edgar Berlanga this Saturday, but that hasn’t stopped reporters from asking him what he has lined up for his next fight. Boxing reporter Manouk Akopyan asked Alvarez if he’d ever be interested in fighting UFC star Conor McGregor, which Alvarez found amusing.
“I know, and then we show boxing is better,” Alvarez said, before adding, “Easy, easy, way easy money.”
McGregor, who previously held UFC titles at 145 and 155 pounds, has participated in only one pro boxing bout, a high-profile contest that saw him go nine rounds with the legendary Floyd Mayweather before succumbing to strikes in the 10th. Since that August 2017 event, McGregor has competed sporadically in MMA, winning just one of his past four fights and he still awaits his next booking after an injury forced him out of a fight with Michael Chandler at UFC 303.
Asked how long McGregor would last against him, Alvarez predicted that he could beat McGregor by knockout whenever he decided to do so.
“At the time I want,” Alvarez said. “One round, two rounds, three rounds, whatever I want.”
Though it’s unlikely that Alvarez and McGregor ever square off under any combat sports rule set, the boxing superstar is going head-to-head with the UFC itself this weekend when he takes on Berlanga at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, not far from Sphere, which hosts UFC 306 the same night.
UFC CEO Dana White has made it clear that he won’t shy away from scheduling annual UFC events for Mexican Independence Day weekend in the future, a decision that Alvarez has no problem with.
“No, it’s nothing,” Alvarez said. “Competition is good. May and September are my days and competition is good. I don’t do it in that way, I just focus on my team and focus on what I’m doing, and if somebody wants to do other shows, it’s fine.”
The UFC is officially set to begin negotiations on a new TV deal starting in January with its current partners at ESPN maintaining a three-month exclusive window to hold onto the promotion.
On Tuesday, TKO Group Holdings president and chief operating officer Mark Shapiro revealed the timeline for negotiations with plans to begin talks with ESPN in early 2025. Shapiro made it clear that the UFC would like to stay with ESPN after a successful partnership that dates back nearly seven years, which now includes all events as well as pay-per-views running on the Disney owned platform.
“Our window to negotiate is exclusive with ESPN/Disney from Jan. 15 to April 15,” Shapiro said during the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference. “No formal conversations have started as of yet and let me be clear, it is our intention to re-sign with ESPN and Disney.
“Because they’ve shown that they do it best. They understand synergy, they understand marketing, They do a great job technologically with developing their platforms, engaging their consumers and of course ESPN flagship, which is their direct-to-consumer [streaming platform] is on the way. So we’re anxious to see what that’s all about and where we can fit in there.”
Shapiro also heaped praise on Disney CEO Bob Iger as a true champion of sports programming after they previously worked together when he was the vice president of programming and production at ESPN.
“It’s rare when you have a CEO of a major media company that gets granularly involved, if you will, on all levels of content,” Shapiro said. “That’s what Bob Iger does. At the end of the day, he’s a sports freak. He now owns a women’s soccer team in the NWSL with his wife Willow. He came up through ABC Sports, huge boxing fan, and when I worked at ESPN, there wasn’t a Monday morning I didn’t get notes on sports content for the weekend while he’s running Disney.
“Those are the kinds of champions you want to be with. I think folks underestimate how much money ESPN and Disney spend on a weekly basis promoting our UFC fights. We’re not looking past them. The conversation starts there.”
As much as Shapiro touted the current partnership between the UFC and ESPN with hopes that the two sides could reach an agreement on a new deal, it seems highly unlikely that a contract ends up being finalized during that three-month negotiating window.
It’s almost part of the process for any sports league like UFC to accept offers from other potential broadcast partners to understand the true value of the rights deal.
With streaming outlets like Netflix and Amazon seeking out more and more live programming — with billions of dollars in capital to spend — it’s tough to imagine the UFC won’t at least see what options are available after April 15.
In fact, Shapiro said there are already some outlets who have expressed interest in talking to the UFC about a new broadcast rights deal once that exclusive negotiating window with ESPN ends.
“Having said that — there’s so many other platforms that are looking for premium sports content and again, the demand is outstripping supply,” Shapiro said. “If we get out of that window, and we don’t have a deal, we will immediately take up with two or three platforms specifically that have told us they’re anxious to have those conversations.
“I think what stands out for us again is not just the fact that we have so much flexibility and control, ownership, commissioner all in one, we’re year round, we’re the antidote for churn but also when it comes to the UFC, it’s premium and not so much volume. That’s a big play there. If you want to get volume in a premium, the WWE might be the play for you because there’s so many events. But when it comes to the UFC, you’ve got your 12 pay-per-views a year and you’ve got your — depending on where we end up here — your 30 to 40 [Fight Nights], which is every single week. You can use them on whatever platform you want.”
Shapiro mentioned specifically how much the UFC played a part in the growth of ESPN+ as the streaming service was first launching after brokering an exclusive deal to land the MMA promotion.
Because the UFC maintains such a loyal fanbase not to mention continued growth year after year, Shapiro understand the value that the organization brings to any potential broadcast partner.
“We’ve been the driver of ESPN+,” Shapiro said. “We will continue to be flexible for our partners as long as they are interested in the three things we focus on a daily basis all the way down to the manager level at our company, which is one, revenue growth and profitability. Two, margin expansion. Three, audience and brand growth.
“That is something we tutor, we mentor and we educate all the way down to the manager level. So folks are thinking about that as their mission when they go about their daily chores.”
One aspect that could draw a lot of eyeballs with this next TV deal is how the UFC approaches the future of pay-per-view.
Just after striking a deal to move to ESPN following several years with FOX, the UFC ended up extended its partnership with the sports-based outlet to include pay-per-view broadcasts that now live exclusively on ESPN+. Rather than gambling on one pay-per-view card to the next when it comes to overall sales and then splitting those profits with broadcast companies like in-Demand or DirecTV, the UFC now receives a set fee from ESPN for each pay-per-view.
Shapiro said when that deal was first brokered UFC CEO Dana White didn’t actually like the idea, but the longterm success has been undeniable.
“I will tell you when we did the PPV deal with ESPN, Dana White wasn’t completely on board with that,” Shapiro explained. “He loves being a promoter. He loves being the barker that he is with fights. I’m sure you heard yesterday the way he talks about UFC 306 at the Sphere this weekend. There’s no better promoter, no better megaphone and he’s so passionate and he’s so authentic about it. The idea of losing control of the PPV, if you will because it was on in-Demand and DirecTV, wasn’t something he was really up for.
“But he went along because he’s a great teammate and it worked out. It worked out really well. But the idea of us taking that back in house or splitting the package, the half-package, and selling to somebody else, we’re up for all of it.”
In the past, Shapiro mentioned that the UFC could potentially even entertain eliminating pay-per-view broadcasts all together — for the right price. There’s also a chance the UFC just takes back control of the pay-per-views or just sells the pay-per-views to a different partner as a totally separate package from the rest of the broadcast rights.
In other words, the UFC is open for business.
“The idea of us taking [PPV’s] back in house or splitting the package, the half-package, and selling to somebody else, we’re up for all of it,” Shapiro said. “That’s the biggest message that I can give to all the bidders or potential suitors and IMG’s been phenomenal, of course they sell our international rights for UFC, in getting that message out. We’re here to play.
“You have a platform to build, a platform where you have to increase penetration, you have a platform where you’re looking to take up price, we’ll take it up by using the UFC and WWE because we have a history of delivering.”
LAS VEGAS — UFC flyweight champion Alexa Grasso talks to the media ahead of UFC 306, including how fellow Mexican star Brandon Moreno has inspired her, her relationship with rival Valentina Shevchenko after sharing a season of The Ultimate Fighter, what it was like having a front-row seat to a Sean O’Malley-Merab Dvalishvili confrontation, and more.
On the third episode of UFC 306 Embedded, bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley spends some time with his daughter before heading to Las Vegas, Merab Dvalishvili gets some work in outside, Daniel Zellhuber puts in his final training session, Raul Rosas Jr. does media, Ode Osbourne checks in, Brian Ortega chats with Aljamain Sterling, Valentina Shevchenko gets dialed in, plus more.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
UFC 306 takes place this weekend at Sphere in Las Vegas, headlined by a bantamweight title fight between Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili and also featuring a women’s flyweight championship trilogy bout between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko. It’s an event that UFC CEO Dana White promised will be ‘the greatest live sporting event of all time,’ so No Bets Barred returns to break it all down.
It’s a new era of No Bets Barred with Connor Burks moving on from MMA Fighting, and this week host Jed Meshew is joined by Alexander K. Lee to dive into all things UFC 306, AKA Noche UFC. Topics discussed this week include Jed and AK going head-to-head in their UFC Fantasy league with opposite sides on the main event, Valentina Shevchenko’s chances to finally get past Alexa Grasso, whether or not Brian Ortega vs. Diego Lopes will even happen, plus a few moonshot bets from AK if you’re really feeling frisky.
All that and more on this week’s episode.
Tune in for episode 100 of No Bets Barred.
New episodes of the No Bets Barred podcast drop every Wednesday and are available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you find your favorite podcasts. The latest episode can be heard below.
Sean O’Malley is anxiously awaiting his chance to ascend to the top spot in the UFC hierarchy with plans to supplant Conor McGregor sooner than later as the biggest superstar in the company.
As he prepares to headline the historic UFC 306 card from Sphere in Las Vegas — an event UFC CEO Dana White has repeatedly stated is a one and done after spending more than $ 20 million on production — O’Malley knows all eyes are going to be on him come Saturday night. Ever since his viral performance on The Contender Series, O’Malley has continued to grow and evolve as a fan favorite with his popularity truly exploding over these past few years.
Meanwhile, McGregor hasn’t fought in over three years after suffering a broken leg in his last outing, and there’s still no official word when he might fight again, although early 2025 is the latest estimation. Of course, O’Malley has no problem conceding that McGregor remains the biggest draw in the UFC right now but he expects that to change with one more bad result for the former two-division champion.
“I think I’m very close,” O’Malley said about becoming the biggest star in the UFC during UFC 306 media day on Wednesday. “I think Conor’s still got one more big fight in him because of the big question mark — can Conor come back, can he actually beat [Michael] Chandler? So I think Conor’s got one more huge fight.”
With a 1-3 record in his past four fights and a huge amount of inactivity on top of returning from such a devastating injury, McGregor has a lot to prove when he finally competes again.
Add to that, he’s also 36 now so youth is no longer on his side.
O’Malley can’t help but wonder if another loss wouldn’t just hammer that final nail into McGregor’s coffin as the biggest superstar on the entire UFC roster.
“If he goes out there and loses his next fight, it will be like six in a row,” O’Malley said. “It’s got to die down eventually. Maybe not. That just tests how big of a star he is, but I would assume he goes out there, he loses, I’m there. I’m the guy. I’m the No. 1.”
As far as what separates him from McGregor in terms of overall appeal with fans, O’Malley didn’t mince words with his availability to stay active versus “The Notorious” only competing four times in the UFC since 2016.
Meanwhile, O’Malley is preparing for his 16th professional fight during that same timespan with his third title bout scheduled in the past 13 months.
“I bring fights,” O’Malley said when differentiating himself from McGregor. “I fight. Often. I think that’s what it is right now.
“Conor was good on the mic, the accent, the words that he chose, he was very good on the mic. Performances, he had a couple good performances, but I’m just consistent right now. I’m fighting a lot. That’s what I bring.”
O’Malley obviously hopes to bring another jaw-dropping performance on Saturday in the second defense of his UFC bantamweight title when he faces Merab Dvalishvili.
The colorful champion has promised to deliver a stunning finish, which would only further cement his standing as perhaps the new face of the UFC>
“It could be first [round], could be second,” O’Malley predicted for his finish at UFC 306. “I could knock out Merab first, second, third, fourth or fifth. But I am leaning towards the second a little bit.”
Mike Goldberg | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Mike Goldberg can picture a scenario where he works with the UFC again.
The veteran combat sports broadcaster’s working relationship with the promotion came to an end in 2016 following the $ 4 billion sale of the UFC’s parent company Zuffa, LLC to the Endeavor group. Goldberg had called fights for the UFC for almost 20 years, but would not be part of its plans going forward.
In an appearance on the JAXXON podcast, Goldberg recalled the bitter disappointment he felt when he was relieved of his octagon-side duties.
“The sale still bums me out because I think I was one of the pieces that should have continued, but it’s not for me to decide… people know what we’ve gone through, but I’m not going to be a f*cking whiner about it,” Goldberg said. “Nobody wants to hear that, because that just brings down anybody else’s level.
“Obviously, I was smashed, I was heartbroken, because I helped build that product as a soundtrack. It just became a time in which I just wanted to keep on the voyage and I’m glad I did because I saw the world in my days with the UFC.”
Goldberg has continued to work in broadcast, most recently calling fights for Dada 5000’s BYB Extreme Bare Knuckle boxing promotion. He also worked with Bellator MMA from 2017-2021.
An iconic voice that was part of several of the UFC’s most memorable moments, Goldberg spoke glowingly of his relationship with longtime commentary partner Joe Rogan. His relationship with UFC executives Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta and Dana White is more complicated.
“Not really,” Goldberg said when asked if he still keeps in touch with his former bosses. “I can’t find Lorenzo now. If you think about it, other than a few fights, he’s just gone on to the next. If I saw him, it would be a very pleasurable conversation. With Dana, I don’t know, he liked to pick on me a little bit. I always felt like I toed the company line. If Dana said this is what we’re going to do, we’re not going to talk about losses, I never argued, ‘That’s not journalistically correct.’
“I don’t know, but I’d be honored to do it again, and I have huge respect for Dana. But who knows? I don’t think he hates me, but we’re not pen pals.”
Tom Aspinall | Photo by Richard Sellers/PA Images via Getty Images
Tom Aspinall is doing everything he can to get Jon Jones to fight him.
For nearly a year, Aspinall has been chasing a fight with the UFC heavyweight champion that, thus far, Jones has been unwilling to grant him. Instead, Jones appears set to defend his title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November, while Aspinall, the interim champion, is left waiting. Add in that Miocic has not competed since 2021 while Aspinall recently defended his interim title, and it’s a frustrating situation for the English heavyweight, and speaking on TNT Sports recently, Aspinall admits his recent uptick in trash talk is a direct result of that.
“I’m just trying to get a fight, mate,” Aspinall said when asked about his recent uptick in social media callouts. “I just want to have my chance to fight for the undisputed title, of course. That’s the next natural progression. And also it’s a dream fight for me, so I’m going to push for it.”
Aspinall started pushing for a fight with Jones after winning the interim title at UFC 295 and when he began, was extremely respectful of the future Hall of Famer. However, as Jones continues to dismiss Aspinall, the interim champion changed his tune a bit, becoming more aggressive in calling out Jones for refusing to fight him. In turn, Jones has become increasingly more antagonistic towards Aspinall. And for Aspinall, that’s just what he wants.
“Because he wants the easy fight, Stipe. For now,” Aspinall said when asked why Jones won’t fight him. “But I have the faith. I think Jon’s getting a bit ticked off with me at the minute, which is my intention. I’m trying to test his ego to see if he’ll be like, ‘Right, actually, I’m the man at heavyweight. I’m going to show you.’ So that’s what I’m working on at the moment. It seems that Jon is getting a little bit fuming at me, so that will be nice if he continues that.”
Whether or not his plan will work remains to be seen, but all Aspinall can do at this point is wait and see. Well, that and get ready. Because though the fight isn’t actually official yet, Aspinall says he’s preparing to serve as the backup fighter for the Jones vs. Miocic matchup at UFC 309, and one way or another get what’s rightfully his.
“I’m training with that in mind,” Aspinall said. “As far as I’m concerned, I’m training to fight potentially in November. So no matter what happens, I’ll be fit and ready to go in November. No confirmation on the fight yet, no confirmation on if I’m the backup yet. They did tell me that after my fight, but the heavyweight title fight between Stipe and Jones is not official yet so I’m still waiting on that.”
UFC 309 takes place on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Sean O’Malley has become one of the biggest superstars on the entire roster with his next fight headlining the first, and perhaps only, UFC card that will ever happen at Sphere in Las Vegas.
Since first arriving from the Contender Series, the always colorful bantamweight champion has drawn a crowd with his appeal growing bigger and bigger with each performance. At a time when Conor McGregor has been out of action for over three years, O’Malley and a few others have become massive attractions, but does that mean the UFC actually roots for him to win?
As much as that narrative gets pushed at times, recently retired UFC veteran Matt Brown doesn’t buy that the organization as a whole wants O’Malley to win and Merab Dvalishvili to lose just because it’s better for the company’s bottom line. Truth be told, Brown knows after spending 16 years with the promotion that no one fighter is bigger than the UFC itself.
“The UFC’s having a record year,” Brown said on The Fighter vs. The Writer. “Whether they’re quietly rooting or actually rooting for someone, I don’t know because they’re having a record year. They don’t need a single person. They’ve got the brand. They’re pretty set. They’re f*cking cool.
“Still setting records. The UFC is a monster f*cking brand. They are an absolute monster. They don’t need any specific star.”
It’s tough to argue with that logic considering the UFC has continued to post record earnings year after year without many of the sport’s biggest stars competing right now.
While O’Malley’s appeal and drawing power are undeniable, Brown argues that if the UFC really wanted to give him the best opportunity to remain champion he would be facing lesser competition rather than a potentially difficult stylistic matchup with somebody like Dvalishvili.
“Ultimately the one thing you’ve got to love and respect about the UFC is you do eat what you kill,” Brown explained. “You might have to do more killing than the other guy but you do get to eat it. Whether they’re quietly rooting or not, I can’t even speculate on that because I just have no real clue.
“If I’m Dana White, I’m quietly rooting for Sean O’Malley, too, but the fact is they put the fight together. If they were really rooting for Sean O’Malley, they wouldn’t have put the fight together.”
Brown says the biggest advantage somebody like O’Malley has with his star power is that he probably got a few more opportunities handed to him. Dvalishvili would almost certainly agree after he had to put together a 10-fight undefeated streak including wins over three former UFC champion to finally earn a title shot while O’Malley only has four fights against ranked opponents in his career.
“It’s very clear Sean has had an easier path,” Brown said. “I think that’s really what you get from having that stardom, but you still have to fight the toughest guys. Merab just had a harder path. That’s the only difference, right? Or Belal [Muhammad], he had a harder path. Leon [Edwards] had a harder path then the vast majority of guys. I think that’s where it really comes into play.”
Even if O’Malley didn’t have to jump over as many hurdles as Dvalishvili to get where he’s at, the self-proclaimed “Suga Show” can’t stay at the top if he’s not winning in his biggest fights.
Brown knows eventually everybody in the UFC has to face a daunting test and so far O’Malley has passed every single one with flying colors.
“We go on all the time talking about how there’s not really ‘deserving’ in this world,” Brown said. “A lot of times funny things happen, different fights get put together that shouldn’t get put together, all these kinds of things but ultimately if you stay on the path, you’re going to come across the f*cking baddest dudes in the f*cking world and that’s all there is to it.”
Of course, Brown also appreciates that Dvalishvili didn’t falter in his quest to become champion even if it’s taking him a lot longer to get there.
In fact, Dvalishvili’s win streak was so impressive that fans pushed for him to finally get his title shot while denying O’Malley’s ultimate wish to move up to 145 pounds to battle for a second UFC title.
“Merab, you’ve got to give him credit, he earned the matchup,” Brown said. “He basically put the UFC in a position where they’re like Merab or bust. After you have a [10-fight] win streak beating the guys he’s beaten, you just can’t deny the guy anymore.”
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