The Canadian fighter did not take kindly to hearing Conor McGregor had weighed in on a controversial moment in his UFC 240 win.
McGregor Twitter is a platform that comes alive on big UFC fight nights. ‘The Notorious’ may not have fought for 10 months, and he did announce his second retirement earlier this year, but he remains a student of the fight game and an avid fan.
On Saturday night [Sunday morning over this way], McGregor lapped up UFC 240, which took place at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Canada. The former feather- and lightweight ‘Champ Champ’ share his thoughts on the occasion, the main event and a couple of incidents from fights on the card.
One moment from the fight between local favourite Gavin Tucker and Seung Woo Choi piqued his interest and drew an observational tweet. Tucker was warned for a borderline knee to Choi’s head and McGregor’s post was more of a pop at fight referee Marc Goddard, with whom he has previously clashed, than anything else.
You check on the fighter that was illegally kneed to the head on the ground. Not get into a game of trying to prove the knee was legal with the fighter who committed the assault.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) July 28, 2019
Tucker and Goddard and a tete-a-tete in the Octagon, as Choi recovered from the blow, and the Canadian went on to claim his 10th career win after locking in a rear-naked choke in the third round.
Heading into the fight in Edmonton, Tucker admitted, in an interview with the UFC’s official site, that he had thoughts of packing in Mixed Martial Arts, at times, as it had been two years since he last fought, and lost, in the promotion.”
“That little inner voice creeps in sometimes,” he said. “But you’ve just gotta tell that guy to shut the f**k up.”
Tucker went backstage, soon after his fight, for a couple of press huddles and in one, captured by MMA Fighting, he responded brusquely when told McGregor had tweeted about his ‘illegal knee’.
“Who cares what Conor tweets? Aren’t you guys sick of these tweets yet? Who cares? He’s been gone longer than I have. Who cares.”
#UFC240 winner @gavintucker6 didn't think much of Conor McGregor's tweets during his fight:
"Who cares what Conor tweets? He's been gone longer than I have."
Watch full video: https://t.co/ZlocZ1GOlP pic.twitter.com/vH6VGLddrD
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) July 30, 2019
McGregor is currently watching the UFC lightweight division and, according to president Dana White, lying in wait. White hinted to reporters that the Dubliner was prepared to step up, at September’s UFC 242, should either 155 lbs title contender, Khabib Nurmagomedov or Dustin Poirier, failed to make it to The Octagon.
The UFC is now, and wisely, getting back-up fighters to come along on the weekend of bouts to weigh-in, just in case. Last weekend, Aussie featherweight Alexander Volkanovski flew 37 hours to get to Edmonton and make weight should champion Max Holloway, who retained his title, or challenger Frankie Edgar drop out at late notice or miss weight.
McGregor has not fought at 145 lbs since he dethroned former champion José Aldo at UFC 194, at MGM Grand in December 2015. He may have just sat up at taken notice of featherweight Tucker after his Twitter remarks.
