Conor McGregor accepts boxing match against UFC legend Mark Coleman
Conor McGregor has welcomed a celebrity boxing match against Mark Coleman, the 58-year-old UFC legend. In 1997, Coleman became the inaugural UFC heavyweight champion by tapping out fellow legend Dan Severn. Coleman was one of the first wrestlers to attain success in the cage, earning him the nickname ‘The Godfather of Ground and Pound’ in mixed martial arts history.
The 58-year-old is now scheduled to return to the ring in October after signing a contract with Celebrity Boxing. McGregor’s now-deleted tweet in response to the news stated, “Challenge accepted!” McGregor, a former UFC champion at two weight classes, appeared to welcome the notion of facing Coleman in a boxing match.
Coleman saw McGregor’s tweet before it was purged, as evidenced by an Instagram video in which he said:
“Hey Conor McGregor I’m a big fan. Thank you for calling me out! It has to be in boxing because I would smash you in MMA you know that. Boxing you are probably going to lose a decision, but I want a red panty night.”
McGregor, having recently coached against his UFC adversary on The Ultimate Fighter, is getting ready for a battle of his own against Michael Chandler later this year. The fight has not yet been officially scheduled, but it will most likely occur at either UFC 295 in November or UFC 296 in December.
Eddie Alvarez offers advice to former rival Michael Chandler ahead of the potential Conor McGregor fight
Eddie Alvarez, a former UFC Lightweight Champion, has provided Michael Chandler with advice on how to defeat Conor McGregor. UFC President Dana White would like to schedule McGregor vs. Chandler before the end of the year, but there is currently no set date for the fight. McGregor has resolved his issues with the USADA and will soon return to the testing pool.
According to Alvarez, Chandler should try to grapple with the “Notorious” one early in their fight, as he stated in an interview with ESPN.
“Mike Chandler is a hell of an athlete,” Alvarez told ESPN. “I just think stylistically, the way he’s been fighting and the strategy he’s been going about fighting isn’t the way to get it done against Conor McGregor. And I would implore him if I was his coach to change his style, to go for single legs, to go for shots, and force Conor to wrestle early.”
“You have to force him to wrestle early so he don’t have the powerful tools that he’s able to take advantage of (against) all these other guys – quick feet, good range, great striking. You take that away when you wrestle him early. Wrestle him early enough and tire his shoulders down, tire his legs down, slow him down, and he’s half the striker that he can be when he’s fully energized.”
For better or worse, Chandler sometimes forgoes his wrestling in favour of standup. To what extent he chooses to engage in a grappling match with McGregor in an effort to tire him out and ultimately finish him remains to be seen. He could even try to attack with leg kicks.
More UFC news
- “I want legacy fights” – Max Holloway still wants a piece of retired Khabib Nurmagomedov
- Dana White reveals if Hasbulla will fight in the UFC
- “Keep babysitting my belt” -Henry Cejudo’s interesting take on latest Khabib Nurmagomedov and Hasbulla Magomedov photo
Follow our dedicated UFC page for instant UFC news and updates
