Brazilian outlet claims that Conor McGregor is holding out on signing UFC 197 fight contract

There would have been some worried fight fans when the announcement of UFC 197's main event failed to take place at the weekend.

Prior reports stated that the promotion would make the lightweight title fight between Rafael dos Anjos and Conor McGregor official with an announcement during the NFL play-off game between the Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins on Sunday night. The game came and went without any word from the UFC before a story broke from Brazilian outlet Combate which reported that the contract had yet to be signed by McGregor as he was holding out on a bigger payday. Combate claims that, despite a verbal agreement being in place, 'The Notorious' is attempting to negotiate a better deal with the UFC after information about the March 5 event leaked late last week. While there is no confirmation of that, it's interesting to note the social media activity of Dos Anjos' manager Ali Abdel-Aziz on Monday morning. Abdel-Aziz took to Twitter to post multiple messages that lent credibility to Combate's story as he suggested, using Emoji's broken English, that the bout agreement had yet to be signed by the Irishman. https://twitter.com/AliAbdelaziz00/status/686393243550875648 https://twitter.com/AliAbdelaziz00/status/686397725277990913 https://twitter.com/AliAbdelaziz00/status/686396383130079232