We’re creeping up on a rare, quiet weekend in the world of MMA. UFC will not be promoting any big shows until next Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 127: Werdum vs. Volkov event at the O2 Arena in London, England.
Although there aren’t any big events this weekend, there are a lot of big news items coming out of the world of MMA. With that said, let’s step out of the squared circle for a brief visit into the Octagon. Featured below are some of the big news items coming out of the world of MMA.
CONOR MCGREGOR & 50 CENT TRADE SHOTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
UFC mega-star “The Notorious” Conor McGregor and hip-hop mega-star 50 Cent have been going back-and-forth on social media the past week.
50 Cent released a video talking about the UFC Lightweight Champion after his loss to boxing pound-for-pound legend and the rap stars’ friend, Floyd Mayweather. 50 Cent claimed McGregor was talented, “for a white boy,” before going on to make the claim that white athletes aren’t as talented or hard-working as black athletes.
McGregor, never one to back down from a war-of-words or a war of any kind, responded on “International Women’s Day” by posting a picture of 50 Cent on Instagram without his shirt on and claiming that the rap star “needs to wear a bra,” before taking a number of other shots at him.
Obviously this is never going to go anywhere in terms of an actual fight, but it certainly makes for entertaining social media browsing on a slow day!
JOE ROGAN: “CM PUNK VS. FLOYD MAYWEATHER IS THE FIGHT TO MAKE”
If you take longtime UFC announcer Joe Rogan’s word for it, the fight to make for Floyd Mayweather if he were to cross over into the world of MMA, is former WWE Superstar Phil “CM Punk” Brooks.
According to Rogan, both guys are at about the same level of experience in terms of actual professional MMA fighting and if they could find a catch weight to meet at, they would make sense on paper as a fight that could be promoted by the UFC.
“I think that’s the fight to make,” Rogan said of a potential Mayweather-Punk bout. “I don’t know if it will ever happen but I think if it ever does happen, it happens on its’ own individual card. You put a kick-ass card underneath it but I don’t know if you put like a UFC 200 size kick-ass card underneath it.”
Joe Rogan would go on to elaborate, shifting more towards what would happen if Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor were to meet in a rematch inside the Octagon under MMA rules.
FIRAS ZAHABI PREDICTS GSP VS. MCGREGOR WOULD BE BIGGEST FIGHT EVER
While we’re taking MMA experts opinions on things, it’s time to see what world-renound MMA trainer Firas Zahabi thinks would be the biggest single fight in the history of combat sports.
Zahabi, who runs the Tristar Gym out of Canada and is most well-known for being the longtime trainer of consensus all-time great Georges “Rush” St-Pierre, claims a fight between GSP and Conor McGregor would be a bigger fight than Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor was.
“I think it would just be a mega-fight that the fans want to see,” Zahabi said in a video he released this week. “It would just be a super mega-fight that everybody in the world would want to see. I think it would be a bigger fight than Mayweather-McGregor. I think it would be the biggest fight in history and everybody would for sure want to see it. I donít make the fights, but if I did, that would be one Iíd make.î
FABRICIO WERDUM CLEARS UP WWE RUMORS
Before we close-up shop, it wouldn’t be a MMA News Roundup for pro wrestling fans without mentioning the big “crossover” story of the week, as former UFC Heavyweight Champion Fabricio Werdum spoke about having a meeting scheduled with WWE this week.
Werdum, who is currently ranked number three in the UFC’s heavyweight division, initially told MMA journalist Ariel Helwani that he was meeting with WWE this week about potentially doing both pro wrestling and MMA fights at the same time.
“I think that both [at the same time]is doable,” said Werdum. “You can do WWE. If I had the opportunity Iíd fight there, no problem. Itís financially great. [A] fight at WWE, a spectacle that is fun to do. Iíd definitely do it. I have a meeting Thursday about it, doing both [UFC and WWE]. I want to fight, [it]doesnít matter where.”
The former UFC Heavyweight Champion would later correct himself, posting a tweet clearing up the confusion he created himself with the above comments he made to Helwani. He stated the following the day after the Helwani interview on his official Twitter page.
“Hey guys to make it clear I spoke about maybe doing Lucha libre in MÈxico. Not WWE. I meant WWE style (pro wrestling) but I am a @ufc fighter and my focus 100% is fighting in the ufc and whatever decision I make after my fighting career @danawhite @Mickmaynard2 will be involved.”
That will do it for this installment of the MMA News Roundup. Make sure to keep your eyes out for the news Roundup and until then, follow day-to-day coverage of MMA news, interviews and event coverage at our affiliate website, MMANews.com.