Fight fans were left concerned after Irish megastar Conor McGregor appeared to be involuntarily spasming during an interview to promote Road House.
On March 21, McGregor made his feature film debut in a remake of the 1989 action classic. Originally starring Patrick Swayze, this updated version features Jake Gyllenhaal in the lead role as Dalton, an ex-UFC fighter who takes a job as a bouncer at a roadhouse in the Florida Keys.
Thus far, the film itself has received mostly favorable reviews with a solid 68% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a 60% score from moviegoers. Many praised the entertaining fight sequences and overall comedic tone, particularly in the case of McGregor’s humorous yet badass antagonist, Knox.
As part of the promotion, the Irishman was interviewed by Sports Illustrated alongside his co-star. Certainly nothing out of the ordinary, but fans who caught the segment were quick to notice that McGregor appeared to be “tweaking” throughout.
Conor McGregor is literally involuntarily spasming from drugs in his latest interview with Sports Illustrated pic.twitter.com/YvAYbyMrzP
— Casual MMA (@CasualMMAinc) March 22, 2024
Fans React to Conor McGregor’s ‘Tweaking’
Reacting to the above clip, fans offered a variety of responses on social media, many of them showing genuine concern for the former two-division UFC champion who is slated to make his return to the Octagon later this year.
For the second week in a row the UFC octagon is at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. On Saturday, the venue hosts the UFC Vegas 89 fight card. On Friday, the fighters competing this weekend officially weighed in.
The event is headlined by a women’s flyweight bout between former two-time strawweight champion Rose Namajunas and eighth-ranked Amanda Ribas.
Ribas (13-4) is coming off a highlight-reel spinning wheel kick finish over Luana Pinheiro in her last fight. Namajunas (11-6) made her 125-pound debut in her last outing against Manon Fiorot and lost via unanimous decision. Ribas will be looking to secure the biggest win in her career while Namajunas seeks to pick up her first win in her new weight class.
Ribas was the first fighter to step on the scale and weighed 125.5 pounds. Namajunas weighed the exact same weight, 125.5 pounds.
UFC Vegas 89 Official Weigh-In Results
MAIN CARD (ESPN, 7 p.m. ET)
Amanda Ribas (125.5) vs. Rose Namajunas (125.5)
Justin Tafa (264.5) vs. Karl Williams (246.5)
AJ Dobson (185.5) vs. Edmen Shahbazyan (186)
Cameron Saaiman (135) vs. Payton Talbott (135.5)
Billy Quarantillo (145.5) vs. Youssef Zalal (146)
Fernando Padilla (145) vs. Luis Pajuelo (145)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET)
Kurt Holobaugh (155.5) vs. Trey Ogden (155.5)
Julian Erosa (146) vs. Ricardo Ramos (145.5)
Cody Gibson (135.5) vs. Miles Johns (136)
Jarno Errens (144.5) vs. Steven Nguyen (145)
Montserrat Rendon (135) vs. Darya Zheleznyakova (135.5)
Rose Namajunas | Photo by Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images
UFC Vegas 88 is in the books but MMA’s world leader keeps right on rolling this Saturday with UFC Vegas 89. Headlined by a flyweight matchup between Amanda Ribas and Rose Namajunas, UFC Vegas 89 has 13 other fights and while very few of them have major significance, that’s still plenty of opportunity to get some bets in.
As always, all odds are courtesy of our friends at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Straight Bets
Rose Namajunas -218
Namajunas takes on Ribas in the main event this Saturday and this is an excellent bounce back spot for “Thug Rose.”
Ribas is a solid fighter but she’s pretty consistently lost to the best opposition she’s faced at both 115 and 125 pounds. Namajunas certainly qualifies as that. The former two-time strawweight champion is the much more dangerous striker, with significantly superior technique on the feet, and a capable enough grappler to not let Ribas hold her down for long stretches.
Namajunas has some difficulties in her flyweight debut, but Manan Fiorot is a much larger and more physical fighter than Ribas, and I expect Namajunas to be better acclimated at this point as well. There is always the concern that Namajunas might simply not show up on fight day, like she did against Carla Esparza, but fighting at the APEX may actually help her in this regard. I expect a vintage performance.
Billy Quarantillo -120
Who doesn’t love Billy Q? Quarantillo takes on Youssef Zalal and while this fight should be fun (all Billy Q fights are), Quarantillo should win. Quarantillo only loses to top flight competition and Zalal is solid, but he already got drummed out of the UFC once, and his wins in on the regional circuit over a 6-2 guy, a 9-3 guy, and a 0-0 guy don’t exactly fill my with confidence that this go around will be any different.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Prop Bets
Karl Williams To Win By Decision, +165
Justin Tafa has never been taken down in the UFC. Justin Tafa has also only defended two takedown attempts in the UFC. Those attempts came from Carlos Felipe and Harry Hunsucker. No disrespect to those gentlemen, but Karl Williams is a bit better at the whole wrestling thing. This seems like a straightforward fight where the good, powerful wrestler repeatedly takes down the striker who is smaller than him. But since Tafa is tough and Williams isn’t a big finisher, I think it’ll go to the judges.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Parlay of the Week
Payton Talbott -148 + Andre Lima -180
Thus far I’ve been going to the well backing my favorites off the most recent season of Contender Series and it’s been pretty successful. So with two of my top prospects from that season fighting on one card, I figure I might as well parlay them.
Talbott is fighting another top-shelf prospect in Cameron Saaiman, but with his high output striking, if he can keep things on the feet, he should have a good debut.
Lima is taking on the 20-year-old Igor Severino but the kid is super green and his high level kickboxing should carry Lima through, so long as he can also keep things standing.
Parlay these two bets together for +160 odds.
Photo by Paul Rutherford/Getty Images
Long Shot of the Week
Kurt Holobaugh (+130) + Cody Gibson (+120)
We’ve been getting absolutely wrecked on Long Shots this year, but we trudge on, and we do so with a gimmick parlay. Both Holobaugh and Gibson were on the most recent season of The Ultimate Fighter as returning veterans and while Gibson lost a competitive fight in the finals of the bantamweight tournament, Holobaugh won the lightweight season. Now both of them are underdogs to fine-but-unspectacular fighters. Tie them together and let’s finally cash one of these.
Parlay these two bets together for +406 odds.
Wrap Up
Another week, another APEX card. But this is the price we pay for UFC 299 and UFC 300, and it’s worth it.
Until next week, enjoy the fights, good luck, and gamble responsibly!
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There’s nothing like a weekend of stomps and soccer kicks, right?
This morning (Sat., March 23, 2024), at 1 a.m. EST live from inside Kobe World Hall in Kobe, Japan, RIZIN Fighting Federation delivered RIZIN Landmark 9. Several promotional superstars fill out the card, giving it a bit more of a boost than the usual big-numbered events.
We’re glad to have you here on MMA Mania for the action and, hopefully, watching along in the embedded player. Technically, we’ll have no English commentary tonight other than mine… There are plenty of exciting names in action tonight. The Lightweight champion, Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza, welcomes UFC veteran, Keira Nakamura, back to the division in the main event. Naoki Inoue and Rena Kubota are both back. Koji Takeda and Kyohei Hagiwara should be wild. It’s got all the makings of a good time.
#RIZIN_LANDMARK9 in KOBE オープニングファイト3試合 〜本戦 2試合目までYouTube無料配信⚡️
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC 
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images 
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images 
Photo by Paul Rutherford/Getty Images 
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