Conor McGregor laughs off Max Holloway's claim, Santiago Ponzinibbio and Matt Brown react to losses at UFC Fight Island 7, and more — this is your social media roundup.
Conor McGregor Derisively Laughs At Max Holloway's Claim Of Being Best Boxer In MMA
Conor McGregor has responded via Twitter to the claim Max Holloway made in the 5th round of his fight vs. Calvin Kattar by laughing dismissively, presumably thinking he is indeed the best boxer.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) January 17, 2021
Holloway made the claims while looking at the commentary booth, and simultaneously slipping and landing punches against Kattar.
McGregor is in action in next weekend's UFC 257 main event in a rematch against Dustin Poirier. Holloway is allegedly on standby if there are any injury or weight cut complications with either Poirier or Holloway.
Nate Diaz Calls Khabib Nurmagomedov A Pussy After His Meeting With Dana White
Nate Diaz doesn't seem to have been too impressed with the results of UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurngomedov's meeting with Dana White.
Kabib is a a pussy for real
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) January 16, 2021
The anticipated meeting between Nurmagomedov and White took place on Saturday and led to an inconclusive outcome of "maybe".
Dana White Gives Max Holloway The Credit He Richly Deserves
A backstage moment captured by UFC cameras caught a candid speech from UFC president Dana White featuring White exalting just exactly the type of performance that Holloway put on against Calvin Kattar in Saturday's main event.
Holloway began by interrupting his interview to ask White if he thought his performance had been enough to get the attention of retired UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
"You think Khabib was impressed a bit." Holloway asked "You think he might come back a little bit."
White replied without addressing Nurmagomedov, but instead detailing just how impressed he was with the performance Holloway had just displayed.
"Unbelievable dude, White responded Listen you're the #1 ranked guy in the world, and you want another shot at the title, and you're taking on #6. I'm not throwing anyone under the bus, but I'm just saying, a lot of experts, and people we both respect picked him to win. And you went out and put on the performance you put out. You treated #6 like he was #6. We gotta get you figured out, give you what you want"
Dana concluded by quipping that he had interrupted Max's interview"
"Didn't mean to ruin your interview" White cracked
-- You think @TeamKhabib is impressed?@DanaWhite definitely was! #UFCFightIsland7 pic.twitter.com/SO9J7zAfue
— UFC (@ufc) January 16, 2021
Matt Brown Sounds Off On 'Ridiculous' Judges After Loss To Carlos Condit
In the wake of his decision loss to Carlos Condit at UFC Fight Island 7 on Saturday night, Matt Brown has lodged his complaints about the scorecards.
30-27 is ridiculous. I won the first round 100% he won the second for sure and the third is really close but I ended on top. Should have got the decision imo but if he got it based on just the third round I wouldn’t be mad. Fucking judges
— Matt Brown (@IamTheImmortal) January 17, 2021
Brown isn't so much claiming that he won the fight, admitting that he lost the second round and that the third round was incredibly close. Rather his complaint is more pointed that he clearly won the first round, and that any 30-27 score cards were absurd.
Alexander Volkanovski Comments on Max Holloway's Performance
UFC featherweight champion complimented the fight that his rival Max Holloway put on in the main event of UFC Fight Island 7 vs. Calvin Kattar.
Good fight @BlessedMMA but you ain’t pulling those numbers when I’m in front of you!! pic.twitter.com/k8h4O54PQ4
— Alex Volkanovski (@alexvolkanovski) January 17, 2021
Volkanovski has previously fought and defeated Holloway in two hotly contested and controversial decisions at UFC 245 and UFC 251. Volkanovski will next be in action vs. Brian Ortega at UFC 260 in March.
Putting Holloway's Output Into Context
In the main event of Saturday's Fight Island 7 card, Max Holloway broke the record for most strikes thrown and landed in a UFC, but TSN's Aaron Bronsteter puts what he did in context.
Yesterday, Max Holloway landed more significant strikes in his main event bout against Calvin Kattar than two UFC champions (Deiveson Figueiredo and Zhang Weili) have landed in their entire UFC careers.
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) January 17, 2021
Holloway out landing the careers of UFC champions is truly nuts, especially in the case of Figueiredo, since he has competed in the octagon 12 times, and Holloway bested his output in a mere 25 minute fight.
Simply incredible.
Alessio Di Chirico Answers Only One Question At Post-Fight Scrum
Alessio Di Chirico made a statement post-fight in the cage, that he believes both the winner and the loser deserve to be interviewed post-fight, and he reiterated this statement in his only comments made in the post-fight press conference.
"Sorry, but I promised myself I won't do this interview." Di Chirico stated "I don't like that you hold interview with winner in this game. This sport is made by 2 people. Always, a winner and a loser, so I don't like this. Sorry, I appreciate your job, but I want to send this message. Thank you"
It is commendable to see a fighter taking his time in the spotlight to make a statement on a subject he believes in.
Charles Oliveira Responds To Kind Words From Khabib Nurmagomedov
UFC lightweight contender has responded to the compliments Dana White relayed from Khabib Nurmagomedov and expressed a desire to fight the retired champion.
Thank you @TeamKhabib. All due respect, I delivered, and I feel ready to challenge you for the gold. Let's go!
— Charles Oliveira (@CharlesDoBronxs) January 16, 2021
I hope to see you soon.#UFCnoCombate #ESPNPLUS
@UFCBrasil @SporTV @ABCNetwork #UFCFightIsland #UFC @BigMarcel24 @arielhelwani @bokamotoESPN @alonsopvt @MarceloRussio pic.twitter.com/Y4M68CEvxN
During the statement White made on Saturday, he noted that Khabib had said looked very good in his fight vs. Tony Ferguson, and that it would take impressive performances to motivate him to return to the cage.
Oliveira was last in action in that fight vs. Ferguson which was the best performance of his career, completely shutting out "El Cucuy" over the course of 15 minutes.
Santiago Ponzinibbio Issues Statement Following Knockout Loss To Li Jingliang
Santiago Ponzinibbio has thanked his fans and supporters following his loss to Li Jingliang at UFC Fight Island 7.
Ponzinibbio had been sidelined due to health concerns stemming from an incredibly serious staph infection and hadn't fought since defeating Neil Magny in late 2018. The loss to Jingliang put an end to his personal seven-fight win streak inside the octagon.
Fighters Predict McGregor vs. Poirier
A Fightful staple, we have our latest edition of Fighters Predict out, and it features the likes of Demetrious Johnson, Eryk Anders and Vicente Luque offering their opinions on UFC 257 main event between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor
Scorecards For Holloway vs. Kattar
Take a look at the scorecards from the Max Holloway vs. Calvin Kattar main event at UFC Fight Island 7.
PHOTO: See which rounds were scored a 10-8 for Max Holloway against Calvin Kattar at #UFCFightIsland7 pic.twitter.com/unCxpR9Tvb
— Shakiel Mahjouri (@Shak_Fu) January 17, 2021
The 50-42 scorecard put in from David Lethaby is the widest card in a UFC title fight since Rich Franklin defeated David Loiseau at UFC 58 in 2006.
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