Dana White categorically and unequivocally denies he’s been “frozen out” by

“I think Conor is a good fighter with good skills, he also does a good job promoting his fights”, said Della Monica. I’m not saying he will leave this year or next year, but I do believe he has a set amount of fights left that he wants to do with the UFC.

Last night, the excellent Irish podcast Off The Ball managed to get a hold of Bleacher Report journalist Jeremy Botter (who initially broke the news that McGregor would be fighting Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC 197) and the MMA writer had some fascinating insight into the tense situation that has now developed between McGregor and the top brass in the UFC.

“They [White and the Fertitta’s] went out and were Conor’s best friends – you’ve seen the video of him driving with Dana down the strip and they’re hanging out at his house when he was training here past year”. No matter how we perform out there.

If Stevie is chasing the big money fights then he is in the flawless division to make that happen now that Irish superstar and current featherweight champion, Conor McGregor, has moved up to lightweight.

McGregor could end up a champion for two divisions should he defeat dos Anjos and such would be a first for the UFC.

“I don’t hate him, but the Brazilians do”. “And he decides he wants to do something different besides stay in that weight class and fight the next guy who’s entitled to the shot”.

While McGregor has already started the mind games, the 27-year-old has also been busy preparing for the bout as he aims to add the lightweight belt to his featherweight crown.

The MMA world might still know him as “Showtime”, but Anthony Pettis is doing all he can to embrace his new, significantly less sparkling path to reclaim UFC gold. “The division has always been a tough division”.

Dos Anjos is not rising to the bait though, and he claimed McGregor’s most recent outburst was a feeble attempt to try and drum up support in Brazil ahead of the Las Vegas showdown.

“I actually had a really good time with this camp”, said Pettis. We’ll see. Everybody talks.

Alvarez kept it real on the call. McGregor has emerged as the promotion’s biggest financial draw. He said it’s not up to him or anyone else except for McGregor and the UFC to determine what he does or does not deserve.