With less than a week to go until a big press conference at Madison Square Gardens and a bit more than a month before the event itself, UFC 205 still doesn’t have an official headline fight. Rumors have welterweight champ Tyron Woodley possibly facing #1 contender Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, but a superfight involving Ronda Rousey or Conor McGregor is what most have been hoping for.
Ronda Rousey is definitely out of the running, and the UFC is currently trying to book her for their New Years show. There was a lot of smoke to the stories that Conor McGregor could face Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight title, but yesterday UFC president Dana White used Twitter to dash those hopes, revealing the UFC was going with Alvarez versus lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Eddie Alvarez apparently wasn’t too happy with losing the McGregor fight and refused to sign the bout agreement to face Khabib at UFC 205, according to ESPN. The UFC has now pushed that fight back and is trying to book it for UFC 206 in Toronto on Dec. 10.
As for why McGregor wasn’t fighting in New York City, the UFC’s own news show UFC Tonight claims he is “unlikely” to compete because he’s “rehabbing a leg injury.” But ESPN sources are calling this into question as well, with people close to McGregor’s camp saying the Irish superstar is fine and ready to fight on the card. What the f**k?
It’s an unusual amount of chaos we’re witnessing here as the card for UFC 205 keeps gaining and losing fights. Donald Cerrone vs Robbie Lawler was on, then Robbie Lawler pulled off. Yoel Romero vs Chris Weidman was on, but now Weidman is threatening to pull out. Thiago Alves vs Al Iaquinta lost Iaquinta because Iaquinta wasn’t willing to fight ‘for free.’ But worst of all is the top of the card, which remains to be announced. We’ll let you know when something concrete happens.
