There’s never a shortage of storylines for UFC fans to follow. One day it’s a superstar failing a drug test, the next it’s the company being sold for $4 billion, the next it’s…well, another superstar failing a drug test.
Then you might see a fan favourite make an appearance on a mainstream late-night talk show — like when Nate Diaz sat down with Conan O’Brien earlier this week.
Diaz was a guest on Conan to promote his upcoming rematch with Conor McGregor, which takes place at UFC 202 on Aug. 20 in Las Vegas. Diaz gained a tremendous amount of popularity after beating McGregor at UFC 196 in March. When not throwing literal jabs at one another, the two fighters spend much of their time these days trash talking and hyping up their next encounter.
McGregor has been a guest on Conan several times and even sent in a special message for Diaz to watch.
Some are expecting UFC 202 to break MMA pay-per-view records, so this won’t be the last time you see both Diaz and McGregor on TV promoting the event in the coming weeks.
Here’s what else you need to know in the world of MMA…
Belfort vs. Mousasi in the works
A middleweight bout between Vitor Belfort and Gegard Mousasi is being targeted for UFC 204 on Oct. 8 in Manchester, England. Brazil’s Combate was first to report the bout, but the UFC has yet to make an official announcement.
Belfort is looking to rebound from a one-sided TKO loss he suffered to Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza at UFC 198 in May, while Mousasi is coming off a first-round knockout of Thiago Santos at UFC 200 earlier this month.
A matchup between Belfort and Mousasi has been talked about for years. The two were even scheduled to meet back in 2009 in the defunct Affliction promotion but the fight fell apart when they could not agree on which weight class to compete in.
A middleweight title fight between Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson is expected to headline UFC 204 with Belfort-Mousasi taking place somewhere on the main card.
Joe Rogan re-signs with the UFC
Popular UFC colour commentator Joe Rogan will continue to work for the UFC for at least one more year.
Rogan’s current deal expires in August but he broke the news earlier this week on his Joe Rogan Experience podcast that he agreed to a new deal. The soon-to-be-49-year-old mentioned back in May that if the UFC was sold — like it was earlier this month — he’d likely stop doing commentary.
Rogan’s new deal will see his role reduced slightly. He will now only do pay-per-view events and won’t travel internationally. Rogan, who has done commentary for the UFC since 1997, explained that his plate was too full for him to continue doing as many shows as he typically does in a year. In addition to his UFC duties, Rogan’s hosts one of the most popular podcasts on the internet, is a successful stand-up comedian and makes appearances on various TV shows.
“I don’t want anybody to think that I don’t appreciate it or I don’t know how lucky I am or I don’t think it’s an amazing job,” Rogan said. “I definitely do. But I’m almost too lucky. I have too many amazing jobs.”
Hunt rips into Lesnar and the UFC
When Mark Hunt lost a unanimous decision to Brock Lesnar at UFC 200, he took the defeat in stride saying the better man won. When he found out after the fact that Brock Lesnar had failed two drug tests, the heavyweight knockout artist completely changed his tune.
In a fiery interview on The MMA Hour, Hunt let his feelings about Lesnar and the UFC be known.
“Before the fight I was assuming he was cheating…he’s sticking needles in his ass like the rest of these cheaters,” Hunt said. “And the thing about that is, he’s sitting here saying ‘this is a fair place.’ Well, it’s not fair. These guys are cheating and they should be in court for it. [They should] lose all of their money if they’re cheating, because if I die in there, who’s going to look after my family? That’s corrupt [expletive], man. These [expletives] should be penalized hard. Dirty, scummy, cheating scum. That’s how that monkey won his world title. He didn’t do it by doing it clean. He did it by cheating, just like the rest of these cheaters.”
Hunt’s last three UFC opponents (Lesnar, Frank Mir and Antonio Silva) have now all been caught cheating after fighting Hunt. Lesnar made a disclosed purse of $2.5 million at UFC 200 and Hunt said he wants half of it or he wants to be released from the UFC.
“I’ll go and work somewhere else,” Hunt added. “Like I said, I don’t give a [expletive]. If we’ve got to sue their asses, well then [expletive] you, you’re going to get sued. You scummy [expletives]. The problem is everyone these days, ‘Man, I want to get into the UFC.’ [Expletive] the UFC. You’re [expletive]. You [expletives] don’t look after nobody.
“We’ll let this [expletive] stick needles in his ass and say, ‘Oh, he’s going to take us all the way to the [expletive] bank.’ Let’s give him [expletive] millions of dollars and not worry about this [expletive]. You know what? [Expletive] that and [expletive] your [expletive] company…
“[Expletive] the company. They don’t give a [expletive] about you or anyone else. If I walk away now, I don’t care. I walk away knowing that I haven’t cheated to get in this spot. I can keep my head [up] and say, you know, I might have to make a lot of different sacrifices to change the way things are, but so be it. That’s fine. At least I knew that I went to the top and all you find at the top are dirty [expletive] scummy cheaters, and a company that’s going to help them do it.”
Hunt also suggested it’s finally time for fighters to collectively decide on forming a union or association.
Wallhead finally gets shot in UFC
Jim Wallhead is finally set to compete in the UFC for the first time, 11 years after making his professional MMA debut. The 32-year-old Leicestershire, England native is replacing Emil Meek and will take on Jessin Ayari at UFC Fight Night: Arlovski vs. Barnett on Sept. 3 in Germany. Wallhead is 29-9 as a pro and has victories over UFC veterans Frank Trigg, Che Mills and Matt Veach.