That’s more like it.
With just over four weeks to go to UFC 229, we were beginning wonder if we would be left with glitzy promos and replays of the bus being attacked at the Barclays Center. Dana White has some good news, however.
On October 6, Conor McGregor will be seeking to regain the UFC lightweight belt, which he surely feels he never truly lost in the first place, when he takes on Khabib Nurmagomedov at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The UFC 229 main event will serve as McGregor’s return to active MMA duty after 23 months away from a sport he reinvigorated from his 2013 debut until he became ‘Champ Champ’ (featherweight and lightweight champion) in November 2016.
There is plenty of back-story and bad blood between both men, who used to have a fond regard for each other, but fans will be hoping they are put in a room together a few times before the October face-off in The Octagon.
We already know there will be no extensive world tour but Chael Sonnen, speaking on ESPN’s ‘Ariel and The Bad Guy’, claimed fans would have to settle for one presser. He stated:
“I hear they are going to do a press conference in New York. They’re not going to do a world tour… Can you imagine them going to Dublin, can you imagine them going to Moscow for a press conference?
“That would be the most unbelievable ting in the history of combat sports, but it sounds like they are not going to do it. Part of me is a little upset and a part of me is thinking that maybe they don’t need to do it.”
Over the weekend, at UFC 228, Dana White offered an official update on the media plans for next month’s event.
“Yeah, yeah, there’s going to be a couple of press conferences. That will all be announced after UFC 228. We’ll get through this and then we’ll announce all the media stuff we’ve got planned for Conor and Khabib.
“It won’t be anything like that [Mayweather vs. McGregor] but there should have, but there isn’t enough time.
“First of all, this is the biggest fight in both of each other’s careers. They need time to train and get ready. It’s a month away but, yeah, we’ll have some good stuff for the press and fans.”
McGregor is not expected to travel to the United States until mid-September so it is conceivable that he would stop off in New York for an East Coast press conference before something at the T-Mobile Arena during fight week.
