UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley is an avid fan of Conor McGregor, and he thinks the former two-division champ can pull off “the greatest comeback in sports history” when he returns in June.
But there is one caveat.
“He’s very skilled, but I think what sets people apart is obviously the mindset,” O’Malley told UFC.com in an interview this past November in New York City. “I think if he can get back on that. You’re not going to be as good as you were if you were training and grinding for years, and you’re living on a yacht and doing these things. You just aren’t going to be the same guy. So it’s just what you do for those three months.”
McGregor has more than that, if all goes according to plan. On New Year’s Eve, he announced he will fight The Ultimate Fighter 31 rival coach Michael Chandler on June 29, a pay-per-view date which is expected to anchor International Fight Week in Las Vegas.
McGregor said he intends to fight Chandler at middleweight, or three divisions higher than the featherweight class he first dominated, though it wasn’t clear if he was serious and UFC officials haven’t confirmed the fight or its weight division; the pair were expected to meet at welterweight.
One of the biggest narratives surrounding McGregor’s return has been his lifestyle, which joined the jet set after a blockbuster pay-per-view boxing match against Floyd Mayweather in 2017. The Irish star often is seen drinking and partying on his social media accounts, leading many to question whether he’s truly taking his return seriously. Those concerns build on the physical circumstances of his long layoff, a broken leg he suffered in a trilogy against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.
O’Malley has been watching McGregor and likes what he sees. Of course, the bantamweight champ is an unabashed fan of “Notorious” and has modeled his own career on the ex-champ; he said he’s watched every interview McGregor has released. If anything, O’Malley knows that there’s one area McGregor can’t – and won’t – neglect in his return.
“If he’s [for] three months dialed in and laser-focused on the task at hand, I think he’ll show up and put on a performance,” O’Malley said.
O’Malley will certainly be watching when McGregor steps into the cage with Chandler, because whatever happens, there’s nothing like a McGregor fight week.
Belal Muhammad knows a lot can change in three years.
That’s likely how much time will have passed between fights when Muhammad hopes to get his chance to settle some unfinished business with UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards. Their last encounter ended in disappointing fashion after Muhammad replaced Khamzat Chimaev on short notice but then took a thumb to the eye at the start of the second round that left him unable to continue with the bout being declared a no contest.
Neither man has tasted defeat since then but Muhammad believes he’s evolved so much following that initial fight that Edwards will be in for a rude awakening when they finally meet again.
“Honestly, I think it will really wake people up to how good I am,” Muhammad told MMA Fighting about the proposed rematch with Edwards. “Watching how much I’ve grown since that first fight, the different styles because I’ve leveled up so much. Fighting a guy like [Demian] Maia right after that, I leveled up my grappling. Fighting a guy like [Vicente] Luque right after that, I leveled up my striking. ‘Wonderboy’ leveled up my striking. Fighting a guy like Sean Brady, I leveled up my mentality. Fighting Gilbert Burns on three weeks’ notice, I leveled up my mentality
“The level I’m at is 10 times further from that day from where Leon grew from there.”
As much as it stung to watch Colby Covington struggle to do much of anything against Edwards when they clashed at UFC 296, Muhammad always had an understanding with UFC CEO Dana White and the powers-that-be with the promotion that he was the next man in line for the title shot
Still, Muhammad can’t help but wonder how much differently things would have gone if he was in there that night when Covington got blanked and Edwards effectively outpointed him during the 25-minute affair.
“If me and Leon were to fight, if we were to fight [at UFC 296] or the weekend that just happened, I would have went in there, I would have dominated him, I would have finished him,” Muhammad said. “When our fight does happen right now, I think I’m going to go in there, I’m going to dominate him, I’m going to finish him.
“I think I’m the most dominant welterweight in the division and I think that once I get my shot the UFC, Dana White, all of them are going to know that they had the most dominant welterweight to ever do it standing underneath them this whole time and they’re going to realize ‘yo, we’ve got to start pushing this guy, this guy’s a monster, he’s a beast.’”
With three years between fights with Edwards and five years gone since he last tasted defeat, Muhammad feels like he’s got the kind of momentum now that’s going to make him incredibly hard to beat.
Muhammad knows with his tenacious takedowns, suffocating pace and limitless cardio that he’s going to be a tough out for anybody in the UFC much less somebody like Edwards, who he expects to eventually wither and fade before the final horn sounds.
“I’m only getting better,” Muhammad said. “I’m only growing every single fight, every single camp. Now you’re going to give me a full 12, 14 weeks to fight Leon Edwards? It’s going to be the worst night of his life.”
Right now, all signs point towards Muhammad finally getting his shot at Edwards with rumors swirling that the welterweight title fight might join the historic UFC 300 card on April 13.
Whether it’s that date or sometime later, Muhammad has faith that the UFC will follow through with a promised title fight, which was really the main reason he even contemplated taking a separate short-notice opportunity against Gilbert Burns this past May.
“Dana White’s a man of his word,” Muhammad said. “When I took that Gilbert Burns fight, it was a lot of thinking that went into it. It was a lot of convincing because I was like I’ve got to make weight during Ramadan, it’s hard, I’m coming off the couch and I’m putting my nine-fight winning streak on the line to fight a guy that just went into a fight against [Jorge] Masvidal, dominated him, he’s coming off a camp, he’s in shape, he’s a scary fighter and I’ve got to go in there on three weeks’ notice and put this five-year streak on the line. If I lose, I’m going to be at the back of the line for sure.
“I did all that just because all they had to tell me was ‘you’re next.’ You beat him, you’re next. They told me that I would be next after Colby no matter what.”
Despite not knowing for certain when the fight might happen, Muhammad has already started a training camp because truth be told, he never really stopped. He likes to live by the mantra of staying ready so he doesn’t have to get ready, which means he’s prepared for Edwards whenever that phone finally rings with the offer.
“Whatever they tell me, I’m going to pack my bags, I’m ready to go,” Muhammad said. “My mouthpiece is packed, my cup is always packed. So if they tell me they need a pay-per-view in January because Sean Strickland pulled out and these guys need a pay-per-view, I’m ready to go.”
When an upcoming fighter wants to make it to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), there may be many things that they think they need to be, whether it is extremely strong or athletic. Or technical, or have one-punch knockout power or a dangerous submission game.
However, according to the No. 4 ranked Bantamweight Cory Sandhagen, those are all good to have, but the number one thing that a fighter needs to have is responsibility.
“Okay, the reason that I was so great, and my top one thing that you need to be in order to be a UFC fighter or great just in general, is you have to be responsible,” Sandhagen said on his YouTube channel. “It isn’t this thing where you got to have that dog in you, and you got to have like a crazy, insane work ethic or blah, blah, blah. Those are also really important things. But I think being an organized person, an efficient thinker, an efficient action taker, and just making it so that you can do things more efficiently, more organized, and you be more responsible than other people which will take you vastly further than what you think it will…its time, its responsibility, and its efficiency.”
“So be responsible, don’t miss practice, when you mess up, it’s okay. You just have to be responsible for correcting that mistake,” Sandhagen continued. “There’s a lot of really awesome coaches out there. I myself have worked with a lot of awesome coaches in the past. I currently work with a lot of awesome coaches. But I will say that one thing that I do abnormally different than what I see in my peers is that if I’m messing something up, I don’t have to have someone tell me that… once you get to a certain point, and sometimes just in society at a certain age, people start pulling you off into the corner and telling you that you messed up, you have to be responsible for the things that you’re messing up in your life. If you’re at that point in your MMA career or in life, or whatever, in general, you are 100% responsible for taking accountability for the things that you’re doing. So don’t count on other people. If people are there to help because they love you and they’re your friend, and they care about you and all of that, then great. Don’t count on that. Be responsible for you. That’s number one.”
Sandhagen, 31, has always been an introspective fighter and has a different take on fighting, which is very refreshing in such a brute, manly sport. And responsibility is a fantastic trait to have, especially as a fighter, whether financially or everything he described.
“Sandman” was last in action against Rob Font in the main event of UFC Nashville, in which he suffered a torn tricep while winning a lopsided, uneventful unanimous decision. He was left out of the Bantamweight title picture because of the injury. He will be playing the waiting game to see what happens between Sean O’Malley vs. Marlon Vera at UFC 299 as well as Henry Cejudo vs. Merab Dvalishvili.
Veteran color-commentator, Joe Rogan has been backed to receive a future induction into the UFC’s Hall of Fame as per his play-by-play lead and co-caller, Jon Anik – who claims the podcast host and standup comedian should most definitely land in the hall in the near future.
Rogan, a veteran color-commentator under the banner of the UFC, made his first appearance back in 1997 for the Dana White-led promtoion, calling the action backstage at a UFC 12 event – which featured a headlining bracket between former light heavyweight champion, Vitor Belfort, and Scott Ferrozzo.
Joe Rogan backed for UFC Hall of Fame invitation
A staple in the commentary booth in the time since, Rogan, who had spent extensive time side-by-side with former play-by-play lead, Mike Goldberg, has been backed by current play-by-play lead, Anik – to receive a Hall of Fame induction alongside his fellow callers, ex-champions, Michael Bisping, and Daniel Cormier.
“I wonder if at this point in time, Joe Rogan has like respectfully declined a UFC Hall of Fame invitation,” Jon Anik told MMA Junkie Radio. “It’s an eventuality that Joe Rogan is going to go into the UFC Hall of Fame. I would love for that to happen spontaneously live, on a UFC broadcast. To sit here and talk about that man’s growth and contributions to the growth of MMA would be such a long conversation.”
“He has just done so much for our sport and for so many individuals in it,” Anik continued. “I’m coming up on the nine-year anniversary of my podcast, he’s the only reason I started the f*cking thing. So, Joe Rogan, first-ballot Hall of Famer. I do hope he gets in.”
Featuring at the final Octagon event of last year, Rogan called the action at UFC 296 alongside the above-mentioned, Anik, and Cormier, and will likely continue his vein this year of calling from the booth for flagship events held by the promotion in North America.
Would you like to see Joe Rogan receive an induction into the UFC Hall of Fame?
File under: Mmafighting.com | Leave a comment »