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Conor McGregor may never return to fighting.

Despite his constant complaining on social media, there doesn’t appear to be much urgency from the “Notorious” lightweight, who is certainly not short on potential opponents. That said, one fighter who will not score a life-changing red panty night is veteran “Highlight” reel Justin Gaethje.

That’s according to longtime manager Ali Abdelaziz.

“He got offered this fight at least five times,” Abdelaziz told Submission Radio. “At least five. He never wanted to have to do anything with Justin. He said the reason he didn’t want to fight Justin is because Justin talked bad to him on Twitter and Instagram before — and the history we have with him. He didn’t want to lose to our team, I guess. Even UFC told me, ‘Hey, leave him alone, he doesn’t like to fight people who talk bad to him on the Internet.’ Why do you think [Michael] Chandler was being so nice to him? Because he was being told not to talk bad to Conor. Conor has to start talking bad and then he can talk bad back. You know, he’s a weak, mental midget. He’s soft like a marshmallow. And he’s a no good son of a bitch. This is what he is.”

McGregor, who turned 36 last July, dropped three of his last four and has not competed since losing to Dustin Poirier back in summer 2021.

“I believe Dan Hooker will be the next fight [for Gaethje],” Abdelaziz continued. “I don’t think he deserves it. It’s been six years since Conor last saw Khabib [Nurmagomedov]. Khabib took everything away from him. He took his manhood, he took his soul. He was never the same. He will never be the same. He took everything away from this man. The UFC lost so much money because of Khabib. But this is the game. You know you have to fight the best and Khabib was the best at the same time. Conor fought the best and he got whooped.”

To be fair, Gaethje has also turned the fight down (because of this).

McGregor is not expected to compete until 2025, long after the promotion has its new broadcast deal — a decision that is likely to help the promotion command top dollar on the open market. Despite his inactivity and mediocre record, McGregor remains the biggest draw in mixed martial arts (MMA).

Assuming he doesn’t retire for the eighth time.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Kevin Holland is his own worst critic.

Middleweight contender Roman Dolidze handed Holland a rough loss this past Saturday at UFC 307, with their bout ending at the very end of the opening round when it was ruled Holland could not continue due to a rib injury suffered while Dolidze attacked him on the ground. Holland looked like he wanted to come out for Round 2, but the bout was eventually waved off.

Holland later replied to an internet troll on Instagram, who wrote him a vulgar message (screenshot courtesy of The Fight Bubble):

Holland captioned the Instagram Story post, “Can’t have a response to everyone but yeah I feel like a total piece of shit. My bad to all the ones who put some bread on the line or told they friend I was gonna win. I’m a p*ssy.”

The screenshot also contains a DM reply from Holland, in which he wrote, “I feel like a piece of shit. Rib pain like a vagina.”

With the loss, Holland has now dropped three of his past four fights competing in both the middleweight and welterweight divisions. The extent of his rib injury is unknown.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Alex Pereira’s remarkable run in the UFC continued with a fourth-round knockout of Khalil Rountree in the main event of UFC 307 to retain the light heavyweight championship. “Poatan” has many options in front of him, and while he says he plans to remain at 205 to defend his belt, is that what ultimately happens for one of the UFC’s biggest stars?

On an all-new edition of On To the Next One, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee discuss what could be next for Pereira and Rountree following their thrilling headliner on Saturday night in Salt Lake City. Additionally, future matchups are discussed for new women’s bantamweight champ Julianna Peña and Raquel Pennington after their co-main event ended with a controversial split decision, Mario Bautista following his split decision victory against Jose Aldo, Roman Dolidze after his injury TKO win over Kevin Holland, along with fellow main card winner Kayla Harrison, and more.

Watch the UFC 307 edition of On To the Next One in the video above. Audio-only versions of the podcast can be found below, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Conor McGregor vs. Justin Gaethje? It could have happened, or so Gaethje’s manager claims.

Ali Abdelaziz recently appeared on Submission Radio where he discussed a number of topics, including the possibility of a McGregor-Gaethje dream fight that may never happen. According to Abdelaziz, it’s McGregor who has been reluctant to accept the matchup.

“Let’s be real, Conor McGregor will never, will never, will never… he got offered this fight at least five times,” Abdelaziz said (transcription via Denis Shkuratov). “At least five. He never wanted to have to do anything with Justin Gaethje. He said the reason he didn’t want to fight Justin was because Justin talked bad to him on Twitter and Instagram before and the history we have with him. He didn’t want to lose to our team, I guess.”

Gaethje recently told a similar story to TMZ Sports, though he claimed it was actually six times that the McGregor fight was offered and not signed by his adversary. At the time, Gaethje said McGregor couldn’t risk fighting him because “How you lose to me is not how you can lose and continue to be Conor McGregor. That’s a big risk for him and he’s always saying something, trying to take the light away from people fighting in the cage.”

Abdelaziz has a different take on it, alleging that fighters are told not to feud with McGregor on social media if they want to be booked against him.

“The last five, six years we offered Justin Gaethje so many times,” Abdelaziz said. “Never once, never once, this man—Even the UFC, told me this, ‘Hey, leave him alone. Don’t talk with him. He doesn’t like to fight people who talk bad to him on the internet.’ I promise you, he likes to be the one to start the talk and you retaliate.

“Why do you think [Michael] Chandler being so nice to him? Why? Because he was being told not to talk bad to Conor. Conor has to start talking bad and he talk bad back. He’s a weak mental midget. He’s soft like a marshmallow. And he’s a no-good, son of a bitch. This is what he is.”

The history between McGregor and Abdelaziz’s fighters dates back to McGregor’s ugly feud with Khabib Nurmagomedov. When the two fought at UFC 229, Nurmagomedov defeated McGregor by fourth-round submission, but then exited the cage afterwards to initiate a brawl with McGregor’s teammates. McGregor, Nurmagomedov, and several of their associates were fined and suspended as a result of the incident.

Post-fight shenanigans aside, Abdelaziz believes the win was do definitive for Nurmagomedov that the outcome forever changed McGregor.

“It’s been six years since Conor lost his soul to Khabib,” Abdelaziz said. “Khabib took everything away from him. He took his manhood. He took his soul. He was never the same. He will never be the same. He took everything away from this man. This man, every time he look at himself in the mirror, he think about a Dagestani guy who wears a papakha, a wig. This is incredible. He ruined him.

“Khabib said, ‘I’m going to change your face. I’m going to change your mental.’ Remember that? The UFC lost so much money because of Khabib. But this is the game. You have to fight the best and Khabib was the best at the same time and Conor fought the best and he got whooped.”

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Kayla wants her shot
| BJPenn.com

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