Conor McGregor Talks Lawsuits, Donates $500,000 To Dustin Poirier’s Charity, More News | Fightful Fix Roundup
Conor McGregor has responded to fresh civil lawsuits directed his way, and made a hefty donation to Dustin Poirier’s charity — Fightful has you covered with all that and more in the Fightful Fix.
Conor McGregor Responds To New Civil Lawsuits
While being interviewed at the press conference in advance of UFC 257, Conor McGregor was forced to comment on the new litigation he is the target of.
McGregor dismissed the pair of suits when questioned by MMA Junkie’s John Morgan. Stating that the case had been fully investigated, and he had been cleared of any wrongdoing, before quickly shifting the attention back to his upcoming bout with Dustin Poirier in Saturday’s main event.
“You know, it’s old news,” McGregor said (h/t Bloody Elbow). “It was investigated thoroughly over the course of two long years, and I was cleared of any wrongdoing. And that’s it.”
“So much positivity in my life,” he continued. “I’ve got a great challenge ahead of me on Saturday night and I’m very excited to get in. I’ve put in an immense amount of work to get my frame correct at 155, to get my conditioning [right]—I want to answer questions here and I hope Dustin can bring it to me and we can have a good fight.”
Dustin Poirier Confirms Conor McGregor’s $500K Donation To His Good Fight Foundation
Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier may be set to fight Saturday at UFC 257, but they are teaming up to do some charitable good in the meantime.
In advance of their matchup at UFC 257, there has been much discussion of McGregor making a contribution to Poirier’s charitable foundation, The Good Fight. At the press conference in advance of their bout Saturday in Abu Dhabi, Poirier confirmed the donation had been made, and thanked McGregor for what he’ll be able to do with that money.
“I don’t want to make it seem like we’re up here giving each other back massages but Conor, I just want to clear the air: Conor’s team, McGregor Sport & Entertainment, did reach out to my foundation and they are starting the process toward that donation,” Poirier said (h/t MMA Junkie). “So Conor, man-to-man, you’re going to help a lot of people with that.”
Poirier had previously stated that he had designs on the investment being put towards an after-school martial arts gym for at-risk youth.
One month until @DustinPoirier and @TheNotoriousMMA do a good thing for @TheGoodFightFDN. —#UFC257 Full interview: https://t.co/5vvxG9fOhk pic.twitter.com/oRK6P5zNri
— MMA Junkie (@MMAjunkie) December 23, 2020
Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor Engage In Intense, But Friendly Face-Off
Without the pre-fight tension that has dominated most Conor McGregor matchups, the faceoff between him and Dustin Poirier still brought intensity, and also hot sauce to the proceedings.
After the two UFC 257 headliners engaged in a brief face-to-face, Poirier gave McGregor a bottle of Louisiana hot sauce and reminded McGregor he’d been promised a bottle of McGregor’s Proper Twelve whiskey.
Intensity and respect in equal measure! —
Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor come face-to-face for the final time before the rematch goes down!@TheNotoriousMMA has got his hot sauce —
Watch #UFC257 live on BT Sport Box Office https://t.co/LmdecOCthi pic.twitter.com/IJtTkPb6x2
— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) January 22, 2021
Here’s what McGregor and Poirier said during that face off #UFC257pic.twitter.com/voxk8uDVRj
— MMA mania (@mmamania) January 21, 2021
Dustin Poirier And Conor McGregor Each 50 Clean USADA Tests
In advance of their fight, the UFC’s Senior VP of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Nowitzky has noted that both of Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier have reached a testing milestone.
Another small, but significant, story for tomorrow night’s fight. Both @TheNotoriousMMA and @DustinPoirier reached 50 perfect test history this month. That’s 50 unannounced tests…never know when they are coming. Can’t do that unless you are clean. pic.twitter.com/1SHJPpZs4f
— Jeff Novitzky (@JeffNovitzkyUFC) January 22, 2021
Al Iaquinta Sounds Off About Friendly Nature Between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier; Daniel Cormier Defends Poirier.
UFC welterweight contender Al Iaquinta has blasted Dustin Poirier for his chummy relationship with Conor McGregor prior to their UFC 257 main event.
“What is that guy doing?” Iaquinta told ESPN (h/t BJ Penn.com). “What is he, Conor’s fan? He’s like a fan fighting Conor. It’s so cringy. Conor’s like, ‘I’ll fly you over, and I’ll donate my money to your charity.’ I’d be like, ‘Bro, I’ll fly my (expletive) self over and when I beat the (expletive) out of you, I’ll donate my own money. What is this? Kumbaya? Like what the hell. Are you kidding? He’s lost the fight already.”
“If the fight happens, there’s not a doubt in my mind Dustin’s losing that fight.” Iaquinta continued. “He’s already (conceded) in everything. He’s like, ‘Thank you for the fight. We’ll fight in Ireland or wherever, and thank you, we’ll fight for charity, it’ll be great.’ It’s like, dude, get out of here. This is a fight. What? Are you freakin’ kidding me? You’re gonna thank the guy? You think Conor is really gonna – this is for him, this is not for you, Dustin. Relax, bro.
Former UFC champion, and current commentator Daniel Cormier has come to Poirier’s defense, sticking up for his fellow Louisianan.
“Dustin Poirier doesn’t feel happy to be here,” Daniel Cormier said. “I saw Al Iaquinta say something like that a while back, ‘Dustin is showing too much respect.’ But that kid, man. That kid is from Lafayette, Louisiana, and he is a dog. He’s going to fight with all of his heart. He might not win all the time, but you watch Dustin fight, he’s a nasty son of a gun, dude. And he wants to fight and he shows up. He’ll fight Conor to the best of his ability. I don’t know if he’ll win. But he will fight him hard. He’ll fight him as hard as he can.”
Nasrat Haqparast Issues Statement Regarding Fight Cancellation
With news that he had failed to weigh in, and his bout against Arman Tsarukyan has been cancelled, German UFC prospect Nasrat Haqparast has issued a statement via his Instagram.
Nasrat Haqparast statement on Instagram
Speedy recovery!! #UFC257 pic.twitter.com/rPq7lQFmM1
— MaRCeL DoRFF ——– (@BigMarcel24) January 22, 2021
Haqparast apologized for the cancellation and explained that the medical team had taken the decision out of his hands, once he’d come down ill.
“With great pain in my heart I need to announce that my fight is cancelled. The medical team canceled my fight after I got ill… I will be back within the next weeks after I’m healthy and get booked as soon as possible. I apologize to all my fans and the UFC but as I know god is the best planer and In his decision I trust always…”
Dalcha Lungiambula Hopes To Be An Ambassador For South Africa
After ending an extended layoff with his victory over Markus Perez at UFC Fight Island 8, South African Dalcha Lungiambula has pledged to do his country proud inside the octagon.
“I feel great. I was out for a long time with an injury. I broke my jaw,” he said (h/t MMA Junkie). “A lot of stuff happened. I didn’t give up. I moved forward and trained hard. This is the fruit of hard work. I’m happy for myself.”
“I trust my team. I can’t wait. Any time, anywhere, anyone. I’m ready to fight. I’m with a good team, so I can’t wait,” he expressed. “I believe in the team behind me. I believe I will do more and more. I feel like I’m an ambassador for my country, (South Africa). That motivates all my people that everything is possible. You have to believe and work hard.”
With his victory Wednesday over Perez, Lungiambula rebounded from a knockout loss to Magomed Ankalaev in November of 2019, and moved his UFC record to two wins, and one loss.
Mike Davis Reflects On Awful 2020, & Fight Of The Night Performance
After securing an extra $50K for his fight of the night against Mason Jones at UFC Fight Island 8, lightweight Mike Davis hopes to put “the worst year of his life” behind him.
“2020 was the worst year of my life. I was injured from January all the way through December (h/t MMA Junkie). “I called my manager and said, ‘I need to fight. Any name you have, the answer is yes.’ When he said Mason Jones, I said yes. I didn’t know who he was. I didn’t care who he was.”
“I was forced to look up who he was – a multi-time Cage Warriors champion, 10-0, undefeated and taking people out in every type of way. For me to go in there after a year layoff and pull off that victory, it means the world to me. It wasn’t close. I won that fight. I feel so good about that.”
The unanimous decision victory over Jones is Davis’ 2nd consecutive win inside the UFC after losing his debut via submission to Gilbert Burns.
Su Mudarji Hopes to Meet Conor McGregor while in Abu Dhabi
With three consecutive UFC wins, “The Tibetan Eagle” Su Mudarji is hoping to get a chance to meet his idol, Conor McGregor while both are in Abu Dhabi.
“I’m really happy to be here in Abu Dhabi.” Mudarji commented (h/t MMA Junkie). “The weather is great. Everything has been first class. I’m enjoying my experience. I will have an opportunity to meet my idol, Conor (McGregor). It’s awesome.”
Mudarji is coming off a unanimous decision victory at UFC Fight Island 8 over Zarrukh Adashev, and is becoming an emerging force in the UFC’s new look flyweight division.
Omari Akhmedov Calls For Ranked Opponent After Submission Victory
After securing an armbar victory over Tom Breese at UFC Fight Island 8, middleweight Omari Akhmedov is demanding a stiffer test the next time he returns to the octagon.
Akhmedov noted at the post-fight press conference that securing the submission had been a key element of his gameplan.
“I was working on that submission the whole camp. Akhmedov said (h/t MMA Junkie). “My coach told me I have to finish the fight with this submission when I get mount. I have to work ground-and-pound first and then go for it when he raises his hands. I did it probably 1,000 times in this camp, so it came naturally.”
Akhmedov then demanded that he no longer wants to fight unranked opponents, while still respecting the talents of Breese.
“I want to fight someone in the top 10 or 15 next”, Akhmedov stated. “I don’t want to fight unranked fighters anymore. Tom Breese is a good fighter, but he’s not on my level.”
After Being Cancelled Once, Ricky Simon and Brian Kelleher Target Each Other For UFC 258
After calling out Brian Kelleher in his post-fight speech, Ricky Simon has been discussing the possibility with Kelleher and they hope to have reached an arrangement to fight each other in February.
Third times a charm ? Looks like we have a Valentine’s date feb 13 @ufc @seanshelby @SuckerPunchEnt @BryanHamper @MMAjunkie pic.twitter.com/jTt3rcXBwK
— Brian BOOM Kelleher (@brianboom135) January 21, 2021
Simon and Kelleher were initially scheduled to meet at UFC Fight Night 176 back in September, and then again ticket to meet each other at UFC Fight Island 8 on Wednesday, so hopefully the fight stay together this time around.
ONE Championship Results: Shinya Aoki Wins Via Submission
At ONE: Unbreakable, legendary Japanese grappler secured yet another submission victory via first-round rear-naked choke.
Shinya Aoki —- becomes the all-time submission leader in ONE with a SLICK rear-naked choke against James Nakashima! @a_ok_i #ONEUnbreakable #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship
How to watch ONE: UNBREAKABLE — https://t.co/d5xA7Pby8N pic.twitter.com/lwqBrAF5BY
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) January 22, 2021
In the main event of the card, the ONE Championship bantamweight kickboxing championship was defended as Capitan Petchyindee Academy knocked out reigning champion Alaverdi Ramazanov via second-round stoppage.
Capitan —- CRUSHES Alaverdi Ramazanov in Round 2 to claim the ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Championship! — #ONEUnbreakable #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/yuCArNk5BE
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) January 22, 2021
The complete results can be seen below.
ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Championship
Capitan Petchyindee Academy defeats Alaverdi Ramazanov in round twoLightweight mixed martial arts contest
Shinya Aoki defeats James Nakashima via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:42 of round oneHeavyweight kickboxing contest
Rade Opacic defeats Bruno Susano via TKO at 1:11 of round twoWelterweight mixed martial arts contest
Gadzhimurad Abdulaev defeats Zebaztian Kadestam via submission (face crank) at 2:08 of round oneCatchweight (54.8KG) mixed martial arts contest
Meng Bo defeats Samara Santos via unanimous decisionStrawweight mixed martial arts contest
Lito “Thunder Kid” Adiwang defeats Namiki Kawahara via knockout at 2:02 of round two
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