The betting odds are in for the new UFC 196 main event, and as expected, the champion opened up as a betting favorite over his short-notice replacement opponent. This is a pretty big bump for McGregor who was training to fight at 155’s. “There’s a lesson to be learned here for any guy who genuinely wants the opportunity”. So when UFC president Dana White called looking for an opponent to replace Rafael dos Anjos against Conor McGregor next week, Edgar knew he wouldn’t be ready. Last year, he was supposed to fight former featherweight champ Jose Aldo when the latter withdrew barely a week before the scheduled UFC 189 fight card.
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Edgar in particular has been complaining about being overlooked for a fight with McGregor since UFC 194 and, in hearing Dana’s latest comments, he has now gone into full on rage mode. The irony of their decisions, though, was not lost on Kavanagh.
“I got a call from Ali [Abdelaziz] saying that Rafael Dos Anjos got hurt, and [the UFC] had texted him, ‘will Frankie fight him at 155?’ And, I’ve been hurt for the past four weeks”, Edgar told MMA Fighting.
But wouldn’t you know it, it seems that Diaz had a slight change of heart, and has now agreed to face McGregor at UFC 196 in a five round main event. The “C” in UFC stands for Conor. It’s over. Go move up if you want to.
McGregor, a featherweight champion who is unbeaten in all seven of his outings for UFC, was looking to make history against Dos Anjos by becoming the first fighter to hold titles in multiple weight classes simultaneously. McGregor was set to attempt to become the first UFC champion to ever hold concurrent titles in two divisions. Just because they asked me doesn’t mean they were going to give it to me because guess what, in July they asked me to take the [UFC 189] fight on 15 day’s notice, which of course I accepted, and I still didn’t get it.
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“In a time when so many fighters are unwilling to compete due to a wide variety of little issues – not enough notice, minor injuries etc. – Conor’s mindset is unique”. He could have walked away from this without consequences but that never came into consideration. I’m pissed off that I’ve got this opportunity slip through again.
