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Conor McGregor's post-UFC 291 outburst on social media caught the attention of many in the MMA community including a UFC veteran, who addressed his comments.
Veteran UFC welterweight Matt Brown recently weighed in on McGregor's comments following Justin Gathje's second-round knockout win over Dustin Poirier to capture the 'BMF' title. During a recent episode of The Fighter and The Writer, the UFC veteran mentioned that McGregor's usual antics have resulted in him not being taken seriously anymore.
He said:
"You can only talk so much and you’ve got to back it up. That’s where Conor made his name. Going in there, talking all that s***, backing it up. That’s why we loved him. Now he’s talking his s*** and sitting on a yacht doing cocaine or drinking Proper 11 or whatever the f*** it is. No one really cares.” [h/t MMA Fighting]
'The Immortal' also credited Gaethje for his response to the former two-division during his post-fight press conference. The UFC veteran mentioned that there's still a demand to see McGregor, but his trash talk won't have the same impact should he continues targeting other fighters on social media without actually fighting.
"I want to see him fight," added Brown. "You want to see him fight. Everybody wants to see him fight except himself. He’s the only one that doesn’t want to fight... You’ve got to get in there and throw some f****** fists or those words every time you say them are just going to have less and less impact and we’re going to care less and less." [h/t MMA Fighting]
It remains to be seen whether Conor McGregor will return to competition this year as he will likely require an exemption from USADA.
UFC veteran Kelvin Gastelum pulls out of welterweight return against Shavkat Rakhmonov
It appears as though UFC veteran Kelvin Gastelum has been forced to withdraw from his welterweight return against surging contender Shavkat Rakhmonov.
Gastelum tweeted a video to his Twitter account along with a caption notifying fans that his fight with Rakhmonov won't be taking place. He mentioned that he sustained an injury during training and, as a result, the fight will either be canceled entirely or postponed.
Rakhmonov responded by offering to fight the UFC veteran at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi instead of canceling the bout. It will be interesting to see if Gastelum accepts.
