Conor McGregor is confident he will get his trilogy fight against Nate Diaz as he congratulated his old rival on reaching the end of his UFC contract.

Diaz is set to enter free agency after Saturday's UFC 279, where he is now to face Tony Ferguson following a late change.

The American has been fighting exclusively in the UFC since 2007, with the highlight of his career a pair of bouts against McGregor, which the pair split.

Diaz dealt McGregor his first UFC defeat in March 2016, before the Irishman gained revenge via a majority decision in August of the same year.

There has long been talk of the possibility of a third fight between the pair, and Diaz this week told Inside Fighting it is "for sure going to happen at some point".

McGregor appears to be of the same belief, posting on Twitter: "Congrats Nate Diaz on making it to the end of his contractual obligations with the UFC, and as a bona fide superstar goer.

"An incredible feat. Fair play. Our trilogy will happen."

Diaz is facing Ferguson this weekend after original opponent Khamzat Chimaev's failure to make weight prompted a late shake-up at UFC 279.

Chimaev will instead face Kevin Holland, leaving Li Jingliang – Ferguson's planned opponent at 170lbs – the task of taking on Daniel Rodriguez, who is Holland's opponent at 180lbs.

McGregor also weighed in on this drama, writing: "My opinion is they should have pulled Khamzat from the card entirely.

"Reconfiguring bouts, and with a more favourable bout for the failed cutter, will only make many others in the game follow suit. The smirks on the scale were enough for me. Pull from the card and starve."

One of the most chaotic lead-ups to a UFC pay-per-view card culminated with the three top-billed fights all swapping opponents, with Nate Diaz now facing Tony Ferguson in the main event of UFC 279 on Saturday night.

UFC president Dana White already had called it an unprecedented situation when he was forced to cancel the traditional fighters' press conference on Thursday due to an uncontrollable brawl backstage between multiple fighters and their entourages, before further shenanigans took place at the weigh-ins.

Needing to weigh within one pound of the 170lbs welterweight limit, Khamzat Chimaev – in his first main event – came in at a staggering 178.5lbs, missing weight by seven-and-a-half pounds. 

While fighters are given an extra hour to try and shed the extra weight – usually one or two pounds at the most – Chimaev was so far away that there was no point, all but cancelling his fight against Diaz as he refused to concede the massive advantage to his already favoured opponent.

While a few pounds may not seem like it would decide an outcome, competitors who have missed weight have been known to thrive on fight night due to the fact they did not have to drain themselves all the way down to the required number. 

It raises questions about the validity of cutting weight at all, with other promotions such as top Asian brand ONE Championship outright banning the practice by forcing fighters to pass hydration tests in the lead up to the fight to ensure they are not dangerously dehydrated in the effort to shed the last few pounds.

With the main event off, the call was made to Ferguson to step in on short notice, having been booked in the co-main event against Li Jingliang.

With Ferguson making the weight at 170lbs and accepting the bump up to the main event – and almost certainly a significant pay increase to save the card – it left Li without a fight.

So, with Chimaev still willing to fight at a higher weight, he will now face Kevin Holland, with those two said to be at the centre of the backstage scuffle that ended the press conference. Holland had been preparing for a catchweight bout at 180lbs against Daniel Rodriguez, so he will not be outweighed by Chimaev when they contest the new co-main event.

That left Li and Rodriguez as the two remaining fighters to match up, but the problem is that Li had weighed in at 170, and Rodriguez came in at 180. In an Instagram post, Li said it is "no problem", and accepted the extremely tough upgraded opponent.

UFC 279's scheduled main event between Nate Diaz and Khamzat Chimaev is in doubt after the latter missed weight by 7.5 pounds on the eve of the fight.

Chimaev and Diaz are scheduled to go toe-to-toe on Saturday in Las Vegas but that bout is in jeopardy after the Swedish fighter hit the scales at 178.5 pounds, above the non-title welterweight limit of 171 pounds – which Diaz weighed at.

Further complicating the matter is the fact 37-year-old Diaz will become a free agent following the weekend, with Saturday's fight scheduled as his last with UFC, and it is unknown what would happen with his contract if the fight was cancelled.

It continues a week that has been far from what UFC planned, with Thursday's press conference having been cancelled after Chimaev got into a skirmish with Kevin Holland, who is due to face Daniel Rodriguez on the card.

Co-main event fighters Tony Ferguson and Li Jingliang both made weight for their bout, with Holland and Rodriguez also meeting weight.

With the main card featuring four fights outside of Chimaev v Diaz, the show could go ahead without the main event, though Ferguson has been touted to fight Diaz instead.

A further eight bouts are scheduled on the early preliminary card and the preliminary card.

UFC 279's scheduled main event between Nate Diaz and Khamzat Chimaev is in doubt after the latter missed weight by 7.5 pounds on the eve of the fight.

Chimaev and Diaz are scheduled to go toe-to-toe on Saturday in Las Vegas but that bout is in jeopardy after the Swedish fighter hit the scales at 178.5 pounds, above the non-title welterweight limit of 171 pounds – which Diaz weighed at.

Further complicating the matter is the fact 37-year-old Diaz will become a free agent following the weekend, with Saturday's fight scheduled as his last with UFC, and it is unknown what would happen with his contract if the fight was cancelled.

It continues a week that has been far from what UFC planned, with Thursday's press conference having been cancelled after Chimaev got into a skirmish with Kevin Holland, who is due to face Daniel Rodriguez on the card.

Co-main event fighters Tony Ferguson and Li Jingliang both made weight for their bout, with Holland and Rodriguez also meeting weight.

With the main card featuring four fights outside of Chimaev v Diaz, the show could go ahead without the main event, though Ferguson has been touted to fight Diaz instead.

A further eight bouts are scheduled on the early preliminary card and the preliminary card.

The UFC's traditional pre-pay per view press conference was unexpectedly cut short on Thursday, with president Dana White telling the media he has never seen anything like the fight which broke out backstage.

It is being reported by Ariel Helwani that while fighters were waiting backstage before being brought out, welterweight fighters Kevin Holland and Khamzat Chimaev exchanged words, before things turned physical with their entourages getting involved.

Helwani also reported that Nate Diaz – Chimaev's opponent this weekend – and his crew got involved after things kicked off, describing it as "total chaos".

Addressing the media before word had spread about the incident, White said "this has never happened in the history of this company", before adding "for everybody's safety, this is the right decision".

In an interview after the dust had settled, White offered some more insight into the severity of the situation.

"22 years I've been doing this – we've never had an incident like today," he said.

"All hell broke loose out here… we stopped it, but we didn't do a good job of not letting it happen.

"It's never happened before, and we'll be ready for it next time."

Journalist Helen Yee added that White claimed the camps travelling with Chimaev and Diaz consisted of at least 100 people, rendering their limited security helpless.

Leon Edwards called out the doubters after shocking the MMA world with a final-round head kick to knock out Kamaru Usman to claim the welterweight title at UFC 278 on Saturday.

Usman seemed destined for victory and a sixth title defence after dominating from the early stages but Edwards' left-foot kick knocked out the 35-year-old Nigerian with less than a minute remaining in the fifth round.

Edwards' kick caught Usman flush, appearing to knock him out on contact and stun the 17,000-strong crowd in Salt Lake City.

Jamaica-born Edwards leapt out of the octagon in celebration as Usman, whom many considered the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, lay on the ground beaten.

"You all doubted me, said I couldn’t do it," Edwards said. "They all said I couldn’t do it.

"Look at me now. Look at me now. Pound-for-pound one."

The head-kick KO ended Edwards' 15-fight UFC winning streak, falling short of Anderson Silva's UFC record.

The two had faced off previously in December 2015, with Usman triumphant by unanimous decision.

Paulo Costa got the better of Luke Rockhold in an epic, winning by unanimous decision, 30-27 30-27 30-27, to put himself back in title middleweight contention.

Rockhold seemed fatigued after the first round with the Brazilian scoring the first takedown and delivered a barrage of body shots on the ground.

The American had a moment in the second round, landing a roundhouse kick on Costa, but the Brazilian hit back with a big body kick late in the round after a timeout following a low blow.

Despite Costa's dominance, Rockhold gallantly fought on and landed a few shots but the Brazilian would not relent, capitalizing on a sloppy takedown attempt to close it out.

UFC legend Jose Aldo was outclassed by Merab Dvalishvili who claimed a unanimous decision victory, 29-28, 29-28 30-27.

Fast-rising bantamweight contender Dvalishvili was unable to get Aldo on the ground where he wanted him but outworked him for the win.

When Kamaru Usman steps into the cage on Saturday against Leon Edwards, he will be defending not just his UFC welterweight title, but also his status as mixed martial arts' top pound-for-pound talent.

Usman, 35, has never lost in the UFC, compiling a 15-0 run in the welterweight division since winning his season of the popular reality show The Ultimate Fighter.

After nine wins with the promotion, Usman was rewarded with a title shot against Tyron Woodley and manhandled the champion in dominating fashion, and since his first defence against Colby Covington in a competitive win, he is yet to be truly challenged.

Against an elite striker, he defeated Jorge Masvidal twice, including a stunning knockout in their second meeting.

When faced with an elite wrestler in Covington – who has arguably not lost a single round to anybody other than Usman since 2015 – the champion showed incredible toughness to outlast his outspoken opponent for a technical knockout in the first fight, before completely dominating the rematch to close that chapter.

Completing his championship resume is his knockout victory against Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Gilbert Burns, who figured to be too good of a grappler to be manhandled by Usman, so he instead unveiled his new and improved jab to pummel the challenger to a third-round stoppage.

To this point of his championship reign, Usman has fought specialists, and has passed every test with flying colours – so what happens against a supreme jack of all trades like Edwards?

His British opponent is undefeated in the past seven years, with Edwards' last loss coming against the very champion he is looking to dethrone, going down to Usman via unanimous decision in December 2015.

Why should anything be different this time around? Well, while Usman was a 28-year-old imposing physical specimen in 2015, Edwards was a raw 24-year-old less than a year removed from a split-decision loss to journeyman Claudio Silva.

Usman had grown up as a wrestler, competing his entire life in the sport, culminating in a 44-1 record and a division two national championship as a senior in college before deciding to pivot to mixed martial arts.

Edwards grew up in Birmingham, after moving from Jamaica at nine years old, with no real grappling background, and at such an early stage in his career, he was unequipped to handle the smothering physical presence which Usman presented.

Seven years later, Edwards is a completely different fighter, with some of the sharpest kickboxing in the division, as well as a terrific pressure-grappling game.

Among active UFC welterweights, Edwards absorbs the second-fewest strikes per minute at 2.15, trailing only Michael Chiesa (0.79) who has since moved down to lightweight. He also finds himself in the top-10 for total grappling control time and takedowns landed.

It creates an interesting dynamic, as not only has Edwards become someone nearly impossible to control in the grappling side of things, but he is also an expert in point-fighting on the feet, while being extremely durable.

Despite this being his first title fight, Edwards has an average fight time of 15 minutes and 15 seconds – which is notable considering all non-main events only last 15 minutes. It shows he thrives in long, grinding fights, which he is sure to be faced with against Usman.

It poses the question: What is Usman's game plan?

Against another terrific controlling grappler – Covington – Usman was able to rely on his below-average striking and turn it into a kickboxing match since Covington's striking was also so weak.

Usman's striking has improved significantly, but he will not have an advantage in that area against Edwards, and while Usman is seemingly impossible to finish with strikes, Edwards has shown repeatedly that he is more than happy to point-fight his way to a decision.

So what happens if Usman's first few takedown attempts are unsuccessful, and this turns into a rangy kickboxing battle? 

Does he continue to try and grapple and clinch, pushing Edwards against the cage, using his physicality, or does he try to test out his developing striking skills? If he opts for the latter, he could find himself down a round or two against a fighter who will not slow down, and who has been planning for this rematch for seven years.

Knockouts can be addicting, and after three consecutive eye-opening striking performances from Usman, who has been working with world-famous striking coach Trevor Wittman for two years now, his hubris in his standup abilities could prove to be his fatal flaw against an opponent so skilled in avoiding damage on the feet.

Usman is the deserved favourite, the current pound-for-pound king and the most dominant champion in the male divisions.

But to beat such an established minute-winner in what is almost assured to be a 25-minute decision, Usman must avoid his own ego and steer clear of the striking exchanges that have defined his evolution as a champion.

Amanda Nunes completely dominated in her bantamweight championship rematch against Julianna Pena at UFC 277 on Saturday, reclaiming the title she lost back in December.

Nunes, 34, was considered arguably the most dominant woman in the history of mixed martial arts heading into that December showdown, which resulted in a shock upset loss – her first defeat since 2015.

The Brazilian appeared slow and off her game that night, but any hopes from Pena's camp that it would be a similar showing the second time around were dispelled early.

Nunes dominated from the first bell to the last, with three clean knockdowns in the second round alone as it appeared a knockout finish was inevitable.

To Pena's credit, the champion did not have an ounce of quit in her, somehow surviving the entire 25 minutes to lose in emphatic fashion on the judges' scorecards 50-45, 50-44 and 50-43.

Earlier in the night in the co-main event, Mexico's Brandon Moreno won the interim flyweight title with a third-round body-shot knockout against New Zealand's Kai Kara-France in the Fight of the Night.

The first two rounds were closely contested, with Kara-France favouring a leg-kick heavy attack while Moreno was landing the cleaner shots to the head.

All three judges disagreed on how to score the first two rounds, with one judge having it Moreno 2-0, another with Kara-France 2-0 and the third had things tied at 1-1.

But the judges were not needed after Moreno connected with a body kick in the third, digging his toes into the stomach of Kara-France, dropping him before finishing the fight with ground-and-pound.

With the win, Moreno has earned another shot at Deiveson Figueiredo. The pair have fought three times for the title to this point, with a draw in the first contest, followed by a Moreno win, before Figueiredo won the third bout.

'Moreno v Figuiredo IV' promises to be one of the most anticipated fights of the year, with two of their previous three contests winning Fight of the Night on their respective cards.

Charles Oliveira will face Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title in the headline event of UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi.

Oliveira has long been viewed as the defending lightweight champion, though the fight will be for the vacant 155-pound belt at the Etihad Arena on October 22.

The Brazilian secured the title last year after knocking out Michael Chandler before defending his title against Dustin Poirier in December.

But Oliveira surrendered his belt after he failed to make the weight for his next defence in May against Justin Gaethje, who he then defeated by submission in a non-title fight at UFC 274.

Retired former champion Khabib Nurmagomedov will be backing team-mate and long-time friend Makhachev in the United Arab Emirates, with the former winning his last 10 UFC fights in a row.

Oliveira has also triumphed in his last 11 consecutive bouts, including 10 finishes, setting up a highly anticipated fight between two of the most talented fighters in the world at present.

Yet Oliveira will pose the toughest task Makhachev has faced in UFC, given Dan Hooker and Arman Tsarukyan are the only two top-15 lightweight fighters the Russian has defeated in his 11 UFC wins.

Conor McGregor is in fine shape and "looking great" ahead of his return to the octagon, according to the Irish fighter's coach John Kavanagh.

The 34-year-old was last in action at UFC 264 in July 2021, when a trilogy fight with bitter rival Dustin Poirier ended in defeat after McGregor suffered a nasty leg injury.

McGregor is back in training now, though, with Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler among the names linked for his comeback fight.

While the identity of his next opponent remains unclear, Kavanagh was quick to hail the impressive physical condition that McGregor has already achieved in the gym.

"He's healthy, happy and it's great to have him back," Kavanagh said. "He did a great session last night, we got some great rounds in. He hasn't lost a beat and was looking great."

McGregor's last fight with Poirier was at lightweight, but he has also competed at both featherweight and welterweight.

Kavanagh remains confident that his charge will be able to make whatever weight he chooses.

"Look, when we get to the stage of looking at weight classes and opponents there's nobody more professional than Conor at making weight and it will all be done properly," he added.

"When that silverback arm goes around your neck there's a bit of an extra squeeze there, so, he's very, very strong at the moment."

McGregor has previously come under scrutiny for his past actions and controversial comments at news conferences, but Kavanagh insists that his fighter does not always act like that.

"I always tell people, they see this kind of performance part of his persona," he continued.

"It's two or three times a year, at the press conferences and it's all very loud and glitzy and glamour and entertainment.

"It's the 52-weeks-of-the-year guy that part of me wishes some people would be more aware of. He's a very, very special part of the gym, as a whole, and I'll say my life."

Donald Cerrone confirmed his retirement from UFC on Saturday, after a loss to Jim Miller, with a Hollywood dream now set to be pursued.

Cerrone, nicknamed "Cowboy", lost via a second-round submission to 38-year-old Miller in Las Vegas on Saturday.

That took his career record to 36-17, and after the bout, the 39-year-old confirmed his career was over.

Having placed his famous cowboy hat and gloves down in the octagon, Cerrone told Joe Rogan: "I don't love it anymore.

"It's hard for me to get up – this is the longest camp I've had in a long time – I just don't love it anymore.

"It's time to bow out, I've got to know when.

"This is the perfect event, sold-out crowd, Las Vegas, got my boys, one hell of a career man – hopefully one day I'll be in the Hall of Fame."

As for his next move, Cerrone – who has acted before – said: "I'm going to be a movie star baby!"

Cerrone has made 48 appearances in the WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting) and UFC, the most of all time.

Israel Adesanya retained the UFC Middlewieght Championship with a fifth consecutive title defence, winning via unanimous decision over Jared Cannonier at UFC 276 on Saturday.

In an ultimately tentative fight, the judges awarded the Stylebender the win in a 49-46 49-46 50-45 contest, making it four out of his last five title defences to come via decision.

Largely in control since coming back to fight at middleweight, the 32-year-old immediately called out Alex Pereira, who Sean Strickland via knockout earlier in the night.

Pereira also knocked out Adesanya at GOH 7 in 2017, before the latter joined the UFC the next year, with Saturday's bouts setting up an enticing rematch.

"One thing I was looking forward to was facing Jared as an opponent, but the second thing I was looking forward to was John Crouch versus Eugene Bareman," he said post-fight.

"Two great coaches, two great teams, and I'll tell you one thing, they had an excellent game plan. It was really hard to get my follow-ups going because they had a good game plan.

"We know who's next, that Poatan [Pereira]. Trust me. The first time, I told you, it was an error on my part spamming right hands and that was in kickboxing. Like I said at the press conference, next time I put you on skates."

Cannonier was initially content to stand up with Adesanya, only making sporadic take-down attempts and opting instead to chip away with leg-kicks and wait for big strikes.

More than his unique striking, however, the Stylebender was particularly assertive in the opening two rounds, initiating the exchanges as well as changing up stances.

Cannonier taking the third made for tight closing two rounds, but Adesanya ultimately did not take on any significant damage over the fight.

Importantly, whenever Cannonier would look to force the issue, the reigning champion managed to tag the challenger to halt any progress and retain his title.

Volkanovski dominates Holloway for 12th straight UFC win

In the co-main event, Adesanya's team-mate Alexander Volkanovski reaffirmed his status as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the UFC, retaining the Featherweight Championship in a unanimous decision over Max Holloway.

Each of the judges scored the fight 50-45 to Volkanovski but even that belied just how dominant the 33-year-old was over the five rounds, showing extraordinary precision, explosiveness and tactical nous.

While the second fight between the two was closer, Volkanovski neutralised Holloway's reach and height advantage this time, with timing, quickness and power in his striking - cutting Holloway up badly above his left eye in the first round.

Vokanovski lacked the final blow but was in control, claiming a 3-0 record over Holloway on the way to a 12th straight win in the UFC, a fourth title defence and a 25-1 record in professional MMA.

Drake is no stranger to putting his money where his mouth is when it comes to sporting events.

The rap sensation clearly enjoys a flutter, once announcing a huge bet placed on Odell Beckham Jr's performance at Super Bowl LVI – reportedly placing down $1.26million on that occasion.

Drake, who dropped his new album 'Honestly, Nevermind' last month, has now dabbled big again – this time on Israel Adesanya (21-1-0), who is set to defend his middleweight title against Jared Cannonier at UFC 276 in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Drake told 'The Last Stylebender' on a video call: "You know I put a light million up, I wasn't playing. Return on investment is a lot."

Adesanya has a formidable record and has defended his lightweight belt successfully against Robert Whittaker, Marvin Vettori, Paulo Costa, and Yoel Romero.

Jan Blachowicz is the only man to have put a loss on his record, when Adesanya stepped up a division to fight for the light heavyweight championship in March 2021.

Alexander Volkanovski defends his featherweight title against Max Holloway in the co-main event at T-Mobile Arena.

 

Jiri Prochazka dethroned Glover Teixeira to claim the light-heavyweight title at UFC 275 in a fight the new champion described as "a true war".

The 29-year-old was trailing Teixeira on two of the judges' scorecards, with the other judge having it level, when he won with a rear-naked choke submission in the fifth round.

That brought an end to a gruelling bout in Singapore, with Prochazka coming through nearly five rounds of relentless punishment from his 42-year-old opponent.

"It's amazing and I'm glad. It was a true war. Glover is a true warrior, and I like that," Prochazka, UFC's first Czech champion, said in his post-fight interview.

"I never thought... that's why it's good to not be thinking, you are in the middle of the fight.

"Next time I will be better. I was ready to end the fight whenever today, whether in the first or fifth round, it doesn’t matter, and it doesn't matter which technique."

Teixeira became the oldest first-time champion in UFC history when defeating Jan Blachowicz last October and was 30 seconds away from retaining his title against Prochazka.

Despite turning 43 in four months' time, Teixeira has no intention of calling time on his career following Saturday's loss.

"I gave my all out there, no excuses," he said. "His body shots took my gas away, I was gassed out to be honest. But I'm going to keep going."

Valentina Shevchenko defeated Taila Santos by split decision in the women's flyweight fight, meanwhile, in what was her seventh successful title defence.

"I want to keep going, I want to keep improving," Shevchenko said. "I want to keep fighting no matter who – bantamweight, flyweight, I am here. Bring it on."

Conor McGregor has pledged to return to boxing in the future as he steps up his recovery from a broken leg, but he plans on making a UFC comeback first.

McGregor has not competed since his TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in UFC last July, when the 33-year-old broke the tibia and fibula bones in his left leg.

The Irish fighter, who has a 22-6-0 MMA record, was tipped by UFC president Dana White in March to make his return from injury later this year.

McGregor also made his only appearance in a boxing ring to date back in 2017, losing to Floyd Mayweather Junior by virtue of TKO, but is keen to box again when fit to do so.

While attending qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix, McGregor insisted boxing fans would see more of him when he reaches full fitness.

"Boxing is my first love in combat sports. I had such a great time the last time I was out there," he told Sky Sports on Saturday.

"Obviously, my return will be in the octagon for UFC – that story is from over, in fact it's just being written, it is just the beginning.

"But, boxing, for sure I will grace the squared circle again in the future.

"The body is doing good. We are going to up the training bit by bit. I have another CT scan in the coming days, and then I will be clear to kick. Once I can kick and grapple, I will be back in no time.

"Boxing training is going well, [and] strength training. I am excited to get back."

Meanwhile, McGregor suggested Anthony Joshua will struggle to regain his belts in his upcoming rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, due to the strength of the heavyweight division.

Joshua lost his WBA, WBO, and IBF titles to the Ukrainian last September, and a date and venue for the duo's next bout is expected to be fixed in the near future after Usyk began preparing for the match.

"It didn't go so well the last time. It's a tough ask," he said of Joshua's prospects.

"AJ is a good guy and I wish him well. Usyk is a great guy as well and I hope for a good bout for both men. The heavyweight division is on fire at the minute. Good things are happening."

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