THURSDAY NEWS DIGEST 8/17: Hardy, Ortiz, Alvarez share their opinions on Mayweather vs. McGregor, Garbrandt vs. Dillashaw to fight at UFC 217, Cormier returns

By John Kim, MMATorch contributor

Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz at UFC 202 (photo credit Joshua Dahl © USA Today Sports)

Dan Hardy, Victor Ortiz, and Eddie Alvarez share their opinions on Mayweather vs. McGregor

On a recent episode of UFC Tonight on Fox Sports 1 hosted by Kenny Florian and Daniel Cormier, Victor Ortiz, Dan Hardy, and Eddie Alvarez were asked about their thoughts on the Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor fight. The main takeaway from all three interviews was that striking in boxing and MMA are very different.

-Former WBC Welterweight Boxing Champion Victor Ortiz was very diplomatic when asked about his thoughts. “It’s two different sports,” Ortiz said. “It’s like the champion in tennis vs. the champion in ping pong. They both great in what they do, they have balls and rackets, but they’re very different sports.” Victor Ortiz fought Floyd Mayweather in 2011 for the WBC Welterweight Championship and lost via 5th round KO.

-Former UFC Welterweight contender and current UFC analyst Dan Hardy thinks the difference between boxing and MMA might actually be an advantage for Conor McGregor. “He (McGregor) has to stay unpredictable,” Hardy said. “Floyd has beaten 49 boxers, but he’s never beaten an MMA fighter. Conor should stay out of boxing range. Floyd is used to staying about four inches back. If he has to cover six or seven inches, that would be different for Floyd and would let Conor use his reach. There are a lot of advantages to not being a boxer.” Dan Hardy will be part of the Sky Sports broadcast team for Mayweather vs. McGregor.

–And last but not least, former UFC Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez thinks the movement Conor has from MMA is different from boxing. Although Alvarez thinks McGregor can knock Mayweather out, the probability of that happing is small. “He (Conor) doesn’t want it to turn into a boxing match,” Alvarez added. Eddie Alvarez will coach against Justin Gaethje on The Ultimate Fighter Season 26.

TUESDAY NOTEBOOK ITEMS…

-Several fights were announced for UFC 217 on Nov. 4 in New, York at Madison Square Garden. Cody Garbrandt and T.J. Dillashaw will fight for the UFC Bantamweight Title at UFC 217. Also at 135 pounds, Aiemann Zahabi takes on Ricardo Ramos, Johny Hendricks takes on Paulo Borrachinha at Middleweight, and Aleksei Oleinik will fight Curtis Blaydes at Heavyweight. Two bouts in the Light Heavyweight Division: Corey Anderson faces Patrick Cummins and Gadzhimurad Antigulov will battle Ion Cutelaba.

-Daniel Cormier returns to UFC Tonight to discuss his loss at UFC 214: WATCH

– MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani is reporting that former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum will face Derrick Lewis at UFC 216 on Oct. 7.

-Bellator officials told PennLive that Light Heavyweight Champion Ryan Bader will defend his title against Linton Vassell at Bellator 186. This will be Bader’s first title defense. The event will air on Spike TV on Nov. 3.


NOW CHECK OUT YESTERDAY’S UPDATE: WEDNESDAY NEWS DIGEST 8/16: Couture discusses McGregor, possible Interim Lightweight Championship bout, NSAC decides on referee, glove size, and judges 

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