Conor McGregor has got his way, and not for the first time.
Late last night, the UFC confirmed Conor McGregor will get a shot at history. The Notorious will challenge lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez for his belt at UFC 205 in New York’s Madison Square Garden.
While many in the fight game believe McGregor-Alvarez has been set up for purely financial reasons – the Dubliner is the promotion’s biggest pay-per-view star of the last two years – UFC president Dana White insists there is a bigger reason.
Just for the record @Ealvarezfight and @TheNotoriousMMA fear me I'm just a man. Your time will come to get my hands on you
— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) September 27, 2016
During a radio interview with New York’s Hot 97, White was fulsome in his praise about all that McGregor gives to the company. He remarked about him stepping up to take fights on four days’ and facing a 190 lbs Nate Diaz, and winning, at UFC 202. White commented:
“Conor McGregor is a guy where, if a fight falls out, this guy will step up. He doesn’t give a shit man. He’s legitimately that guy.
“I’ve been on the phone and I’ve stood there in the living room many times and I’ve looked at guys in the face when their opponent pulls out. Nobody faces that adversity the way that Conor McGregor does. It’s awesome and it makes him respect him very much.
“And that’s why I give this guy way more rope than I give anybody else… Conor can say whatever the hell he wants to. He steps up on four days’ notice. He can say whatever he wants.
“At the end of the day, we’re in the fight game. Who really, really wants to fight. That dude does.”
White, like McGregor, likes to toast good business.
Given the past 18 months of main card withdrawals and controversies, White was happy to indulge McGregor because he feels his main event for the UFC’s return to New York will not be changed at late notice.
McGregor will hold onto his featherweight belt until 2017 and get the opportunity to hold two UFC belts.
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