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Conor McGregor is already back to “heavy training.”

That’s according to SBG Ireland head coach John Kavanagh, who is advising “Notorious” while the former two-division champion peddles Forged Irish Stout to overseas breweries. Part of those preparations include video swaps for expert review and analysis.

Doesn’t get any heavier than that.

“We’re already in heavy training, although we’re training remotely together at the moment, he’s stateside on I believe a Forged Irish Stout tour,” Kavanagh told Lucky Block. “He’s visiting a couple of breweries over there and partners, etcetera, but we’re still sending each other training videos, training plans.”

Let’s hope part of the plan is avoiding another leg break.

McGregor was pushing for a December return after recovering from a devastating pinky toe injury, but UFC CEO Dana White does not expect to see “Notorious” back inside the cage until some point in early 2025, right when this new deal takes effect.

“He’s got some training partners over there and the footage I’m getting back, he shared some of it recently, he’s looking very sharp to me,” Kavanagh continued. “If the date was in December, it would be a green light for me anyway.”

Stay the course, Mr. Chandler.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

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.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The UFC 306 media day will feature 10 fighters from Saturday’s UFC event.

The UFC 306 media day is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET.

Below is the tentative schedule:

1 p.m. ET: Ode Osborne

1:30 p.m.: Esteban Ribovics

1:55 p.m.: Merab Dvalishvili

2:20 p.m.: Valentina Shevchenko

2:45 p.m.: Diego Lopes

3:10 p.m: Daniel Zellhuber

3:30 p.m.: Alexa Grasso

3:45 p.m.: Sean O’Malley

4:15 p.m.: Brian Ortega

4:30 p.m.: Ronaldo Rodriguez

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UFC

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

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.

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