After repeatedly clamoring for the opportunity to be a two-weight world champion, Conor McGregor got what he asked for. To the chagrin of some, he will be fighting for Eddie Alvarez’ lightweight belt at UFC 205 on November 12th in New York City.
It was a deal that seemed to have gone through hoops, which initially had Khabib Nurmagomedov signing both contracts for UFC 205 and 206. During the UFC 205 presser at the Garden last week, McGregor claimed that Alvarez immediately signed the contract to fight him, and “did not negotiate new money for himself.”
Alvarez’ initial response was that his reason for picking McGregor was because it was “easy money” for him. During his recent appearance on The MMA Hour, the reigning 155-pound champion said he was surprised about how his challenger found out about his contract terms.
At the same time, Alvarez says he was also puzzled about how he thought McGregor seemed uneasy about him agreeing to take the fight.
“I don’t think he should have stuff like that or should know things about how much money I am making and things of that sort,” Alvarez told Ariel Helwani. “I don’t know who told him or what was what. I know management teams talk in order to get deals done. So maybe it was the management teams talking, letting them know what each other got done what they have to do to get the fight done itself.”
“But why does he give a sh-t? He seemed angry about it, right? I don’t know why he was so angry about it. He seemed upset that I took the deal. It was a little weird to me. I don’t know if there was a stipulation, like if I asked for more money and the fight was off. Maybe he wanted the fight to be off. I’m not sure, he just seemed a little bit angry about it.”
Alvarez’ interview begins at the 27:57 mark of the video.