UFC Shoots Down Conor McGregor Fight, UFC Owner On McGregor - Brock Lesnar, Le Suspension Update
- UFC CEO and co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta is following in the footsteps of Dana White and signing the praise of Conor McGregor. The Irish fighter has taken the featherweight division – and MMA – by storm since debuting, winning four straight including a recent finish of Dustin Poirier.
Fertitta, appearing on Wednesday's "UFC Tonight," spoke about the impact "Notorious" has had in a brief amount of time. He even compared him to the likes of former champions Brock Lesnar and Georges St-Pierre.
"When you look at it, we've never had an athlete come into the UFC with this much excitement and impact. Brock Lesnar didn't have an impact on the show that much, that early. He wasn't selling the shows and tickets," Fertitta said. "GSP took the long road to get there. Conor is incredible personality. He's brash, and he backs it up. Dana said he had everything, but if he could fight this much, he'd be a big star. It's been an interesting run. He backed it all up on Saturday night."
- Speaking of McGregor, despite his best intentions, he will not be heading down to Mexico next month to fight Diego Sanchez at UFC 180. "Notorious" posted a message on Twitter late Wednesday night indicating he would be replacing Norman Parke to fight Sanchez, who competes at lightweight.
UFC president Dana White told ESPN that is not the case. McGregor is coming off a convincing first round finish of Dustin Poirier that marked his fourth straight win inside the Octagon.
"That kid is nuts," White said. "No, he's not. He wants to, but he's not (fighting Sanchez)."
McGregor posted on Twitter "I am fighting Diego Sanchez in Mexico, November 15th. He spoke a big game. Now he will pay with his career. VIVA LA EIRE!!!"
- Cung Le's suspension is for a year and not the originally reported nine months. UFC officials clarified the suspension in a new update. Le was found to have HGH in his system following a loss to Michael Bisping earlier this year.
Below is the complete statement from the UFC:
Zuffa, LLC, owner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship®, released an updated statement regarding the suspension of UFC middleweight Cung Le:
After review by UFC Senior Management, an error was discovered regarding the length of Cung Le's suspension due to a failed drug test. While originally stated as nine months, the correct suspension period to be enforced is 12 months.
Le tested positive for an excess level of Human Growth Hormone in his system following his fight at UFC Fight Night in Macao, China on August 23. He will still be required to pass a drug screening before being allowed to compete in the UFC following the completion of his suspension.