Just under eight weeks to go and UFC 236 has no confirmed venue, main event or fights.
For a pay-per-view event due to take place on April 13, under two months away, UFC 236 is looking sparse.
UFC 235 is in Las Vegas on March 2 and will be headlined by Jon Jones defending his light heavyweight belt against Anthony Smith. UFC 237 will be in Curitiba, Brazil on May 11 and Cris Cyborg is pushing hard to be involved.
As for 236, we have a lot of ‘TBA’ (To Be Announced) going on but one title fight, albeit interim, has been locked in.
On Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, the titular host suggested that big news could be breaking soon on that PPV. Helwani commented:
“I think that they are zeroing in on something for it. That’s what the latest is… I had heard Abu Dhabi and heard of New York mentioned but, as of now, I have not heard any confirmation or finalisation of a location, a city, a main event…
“But don’t worry about that. They’re not cancelling it… Something is going to happen in the next couple of days here.”
On Tuesday, though, an interim middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum was confirmed by Brett Okamoto of ESPN.
The promotion has gone to Madison Square Garden in November of 2016, 2017 and 2018 but a PPV in May would, no doubt, attract a big gate. It must be noted, too, that Conor McGregor would be free to fight in that event as his six-month suspension, arising from the UFC 227 melee, would have been served.
Who better to ask, then, about an imminent McGregor comeback than his manager Audie Attar? That is exactly what Helwani did on his show.
‘The Notorious’ has been linked with a fight against Dustin Poirier but recently, on social media, he spoke about fighting Donald Cerrone, Anderson Silva and Nate Diaz. Max Holloway has also been trying to provoke a reaction from the Dubliner, who he fought over five years ago.
Queried (from 1:13:00 below) on McGregor’s next move, Attar said:
“We don’t know, honestly… he’s training constantly and he is staying ready right now.”
When Helwani stated he believed McGregor does not need to fight for a belt to headline a PPV, Attar replied, “It always matters what you think and the client thinks. Ultimately, for me, it matters what the client wants.
“We’re focused. We got through the Nevada due process but we’re staying busy. He has a thriving empire that he is growing and he is focused on his training and his family. We’ll see.
“We’re in little talks but nothing imminent. Let me tell you one thing, he’s watching, he’s listening, he’s in tune… he’s excited, he loves this sport and he lives for it.”
Attar said that a fight against the men Helwani mentioned – Holloway, Poirier, Diaz, Silva or ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone – would all draw a lot of attention and would be great contests but the final call will be McGregor’s.
If McGregor is half as keen to throw down as he is coming across on Twitter, one imagines he will be back in action very soon.
Attar did not provide a time-frame on McGregor’s return but said any reports on a done deal for his next opponent are “inaccurate”. Attar manages former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson too and said ‘we will see’ when he was asked about a possible UFC 236 fight against Holloway.
