East Coast, West Coast, they’re all the same.
Conor McGregor will headline UFC 205 at New York’s Madison Square Garden on November 12. We know this much is true.
This will be third UFC fight on the East of America after his victories over Max Holloway and Denis Siver in Boston, in 2013 and 2014. Las Vegas has hosted his last four bouts and, as McGregor has topped the billing each time, his fights have been around the 5am mark.
⏰ It's nearly 5am! Who's up for #NateDiaz vs. #ConorMcGregor and a slice of history at #UFC202? 🙌
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) August 21, 2016
Jesus this sport lark will kill me. Not been to bed before 2am for a fortnight and now Conor McGregor at 5am. Sleeping's cheating!
— lellabells (@lellabells) August 21, 2016
The fact that UFC 205 will be in New York will not do Irish, or European, fight fans any favours in terms of sleep.
The FOX Sports preliminaries are scheduled to start at 8pm [Eastern Time] and 5pm on America’s West Coast. That means the main card will not go out live, on pay-per-view, until 10pm [Eastern] and 7pm. The Fight Pass bouts will be earlier still.
For Irish fans not lucky enough to be at MSG, that means they will have to wait until 1am [local time] for the prelims before a 3am main card start.
The main card is now set at six bouts, were Khabib Nurmagomedov’s confirmed title eliminator with Michael Johnson included, so it is more than likely that McGregor will not be out until after 5am Irish time.
So the choices are clear again – power through, set the alarm or make a bold claim and sleep through the whole lot.
Catch up on the first episode of Football Friday Live…
