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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Conor McGregor—in no uncertain terms—is not a fan of Johnny Eblen.

During this past Saturday’s PFL Battle of the Giants event, McGregor spent much of his time on social media roasting the action on the main card. With the exception of the main event, which saw Francis Ngannou score an impressive knockout in his MMA return, four of the top five fights on the lineup went to the scorecards and one fight in particular drew McGregor’s ire.

Eblen successfully defended his middleweight title in a rematch with Fabian Edwards, but the five-round decision victory had McGregor mocking the champion’s workmanlike effort. On Tuesday, Eblen tweeted a critique of McGregor, which the UFC star has since responded to.

“Conor went from ‘The face of the fight game’ to ‘The disgrace of the fight game,’ Eblen wrote on social media. “He embodies literally everything I don’t want to be as a man or as a human. What an embarrassment. It’s giving Icarus.”

To that, McGregor responded, “Bro the fight was absolute poo, that’s it.”

Eblen currently sports a 16-0 record and has made a name for himself as the best middleweight in the world outside of the UFC. He entered Battle of the Giants holding the No. 5 spot at 185 pounds in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings.

His criticism of McGregor stems from the former two-division champion’s lack of success and inactivity in recent years. “Notorious” has just one win in the past eight years, with Khabib Nurmagomedov, Dustin Poirier, and boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. all handing him defeats.

McGregor has had plenty of time to engage in public feuds as he awaits his first fight since July 2021, when he broke his leg in a fight against Poirier at UFC 264. The 36-year-old was to make his comeback against rival Michael Chandler at UFC this past June, but was forced to withdraw due to injury.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Mike Perry is ready to make amends.

The BKFC superstar and former UFC fighter addressed his recent DUI arrest publicly for the first time on his podcast after he was taken into custody on Oct. 12 after being stopped by police in Florida. Perry was detained and later released on $ 1,500 bail but body cam footage showed the 33-year-old bare-knuckle veteran berating the officers and calling them homophobic slurs as he was being arrested.

“I want to say I’m sorry for talking to those guys like that,” Perry said. “I was a little pissed off at the moment. They were hurting my wrists and my shoulders. I’m not going to fight no cops. I’m definitely not. Go ahead and take me away.

“I’m not doing your sobriety test because I can’t stand on one foot anyway. I have no balance. I’m not going to play your games. I cussed them out but I apologize for that. I guess I was just driving a little too fast.”

After he was stopped by police for allegedly driving “approximately” 20 miles-per-hour over the speed limit, Perry denied that he was drinking alcohol and then declined to take the sobriety test offered by the arresting officers.

The original police report stated that Perry also refused to take the breath test and he wouldn’t sign the DUI citation, which earned him a second misdemeanor charge in addition to driving under the influence.

Perry was eventually released on bail and his next hearing is scheduled for Oct. 30 in Florida.

While he’s dealt with legal issues in the past, Perry had largely avoided any trouble in recent years but his arrest landed him back in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

“I do want to do better,” Perry said. “I do want to be an influence to the younger generation. Someone my children can look up to but I also want to be fun. That doesn’t mean you have to break the law. I wasn’t trying to do that. I just want to be a good yin and yang.”

Despite his recent arrest, Perry is still targeted to return to action later this year with BKFC expecting the “King of Violence” to compete on the promotion’s first ever card in Philadelphia in December.

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Best wrestler
| BJPenn.com

Both Magomedov and Bisping are blind in one eye, and ‘Bullet’ wants to become the second such fighter to win a title at 185 pounds.

One-eyed fighters unite!

Shara “Bullet” Magomedov is somewhat unique in the world of MMA: he is blind in one eye, yet has still managed to make it to the top of the sport. He competes in the UFC’s middleweight division where he’s 3-0 (14-0 MMA) and an exciting prospect.

He takes on Armen Petrosyan this weekend at UFC 308, and paid homage to one-eyed fight pioneer Michael Bisping during today’s UFC 308 media day event. Bisping won the 185 pound belt despite having to lie on the medicals to even make it into the cage. Magomedov can get cleared without sneaking about — in the Middle East at least — but still sees “The Count” as an inspiration.

“When it comes to Bisping, yes he is a motivation because he’s somebody who has went down this path already,” Magomedov said. “He’s laid down the path and he should set an example for me. So it’s much easier to follow somebody’s path as opposed to wander around in the dark.”

“I think the way he is a motivator for me and for other people is he said that everything is possible. The most important thing is not to let your hands down and keep on going forward and keep on chasing your dream, and then it’s possible.”

“Bullet” has been extremely active, but wasn’t sure if he’d be able to technically beat the record for most fights in a year (5). He did say he wanted to fight on the UFC’s upcoming Macau and Saudi Arabia cards.

As for those who might try to take advantage of his limited vision in the cage?

“I have 19 fights in my career, and every opponent has tried to take advantage of that,” Shara said. “And it didn’t go their way.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Khamzat Chimaev might not have the experience of Robert Whittaker, but in this case, he thinks a lack of knowledge could be power.

In 13 pro bouts, including his seven UFC appearances, Chimaev is yet to lose. He faces arguably the biggest test of his career this Saturday when he fights former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in the five-round co-main event of UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi.

While Chimaev hasn’t faced the level of opponents Whittaker has, there’s a reason he feels he has the edge in their matchup.

“He knows how to lose, we don’t know, so I’m ready for victory,” Chimaev said at UFC 308 media day on Wednesday.

Whittaker won an interim title in 2017 that was later elevated to undisputed status, eventually losing it to Israel Adesanya at UFC 243. He is 6-2 since that defeat with losses to Adesanya in their rematch at UFC 271 and then a one-sided TKO loss to future champion Dricus du Plessis. Outside of those setbacks, “The Reaper” has continued to prove he’s a step above the contenders at 185 pounds.

Whatever Whittaker brings to the table on Saturday, Chimaev is confident that he’ll impose his will on the fight and that fans shouldn’t expect Whittaker to force him into a standup fight.

“Who did stop my takedowns?” Chimaev said. “Nobody. I don’t think this guy will be different. If Kamaru Usman, he’s a great champion, and he took down everyone, but I took him down, I dominated him in the rounds, easy. What’s going to be different with Taekwondo or karate guy?”

Chimaev fielded several questions about his conditioning, having never gone 25 minutes in a fight, something Whittaker has done on multiple occasions. He answered that he and his team have tweaked his preparation, but there was no need for a complete overhaul of their training strategy.

Should Chimaev win a decision over Whittaker or become the first UFC fighter to submit him, it would undoubtedly answer a lot of questions. Questions that Chimaev himself has little interest in.

“Just win, that’s it,” Chimaev said. “I don’t think about five rounds, I don’t think about submission. Just go to the cage, win the fight, smash that guy, and take my money. That’s it. Never when I go to the cage, thinking about how, just win the fight. How doesn’t matter.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Dana White knows just how special Conor McGregor is, but believes another could be coming soon.

McGregor is the biggest star in the history of MMA, crossing over into the mainstream and broader public consciousness in a way that few other athletes have. But over the past several years — even before his catastrophic leg injury that’s kept him sidelined since 2021 — McGregor has increasingly moved away from fighting, pursuing his other business ventures and being very selective about his forays into the cage. As such, there are frequent conversations about who will be “the next Conor McGregor” to breakthrough to superstardom. But for Dana White, that’s easier said than done.

“The great thing about Conor, everybody thinks they’re Irish,” White told Outta Pocket with RGIII. “When you think about St. Paddy’s Day, all over the world, everybody thinks they’re Irish. The Irish thing is actually really powerful. And obviously his personality, his charisma, and he beat the guys he needed to beat to become successful.

“He’s like a unicorn. You’ll find a Conor McGregor every 10 or 15 years.”

There have been a number of big stars in the history of MMA, but none really compare to McGregor, who was part of seven of the 10 top grossing UFC Pay-Per-View events of all time, including the No. 1 — his fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229, which sold an estimated 2.4 million PPVs. McGregor also was one half of the second most lucrative PPV event of all time, his boxing match against Floyd Mayweather JR. in 2017 which sold an estimated 5.3 million buys.

But while McGregor set the stardom for MMA quite high, there’s also someone new to come along and challenge that. And White believes that person could be coming along in the near future as the UFC continues to build its base in Mexico.

“Mexico,” White said when asked where the next McGregor will come from. “I opened a Performance Institute down in Mexico and we’re already starting to crank talent out of there. Some of the baddest humans who have ever walked the face of the Earth have been Mexican. Very big fighting culture down there. So I think our next big star is going to come out of Mexico, like that level of star.”

The UFC has heavily invested in Mexico the past few years, both in building the Performance Institute and in repeated events in the country or celebrating it. Most notable of these events was UFC 306 at Sphere in Las Vegas. Dubbed Noche UFC, the event was “a love letter to Mexico” and showed the history of the nation and its role in fight sport over the years.

As for McGregor, it’s still an open question whether he will ever return to the UFC. “Notorious” was scheduled to make his long-awaited return at UFC 303 this summer but withdrew due to injury. He’s now targeting a return in 2025 but nothing official has been announced.

TOP STORIES

Settlement. Judge approves $ 375 million settlement in UFC antitrust lawsuit.

Champ-champ-champ. Ilia Topuria hopes to become first UFC triple champion.

BMF. Jorge Masvidal wants an eventual ‘BMF vs. BMF’ fight with Max Holloway.

Beef. Brendan Schaub and Nate Diaz ratchet up their unexpected feud.

Prospects. Ranking the top prospects from the most recent season of Contender Series.

VIDEO STEW

UFC Embedded, episode 2.

Campfire chats with Max Holloway.

Chael Sonnen being a pundit.

Alexander Volkanovski breaks down Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway.

FLAVOR IN YOUR EAR

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Settlement.

Respect.

Book it.

He’s sees it slipping away.

But Sal D’Amato isn’t a referee.

Fight poster.

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Muhammad Mokaev vs. Rogerio Bontarin (grappling match); ADXC 6, Oct. 25.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’m not some big McGregor fan but there will never be another Conor McGregor in MMA. He was a perfect storm of events that simply cannot happen again in the same way. He’s once in a lifetime.

EXIT POLL

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee or @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and like us on Facebook.

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