Morning Report: Conor McGregor hopes Ronda Rousey is inspired by his own comeback, tells her to 'shut them all up'

Last week the UFC officially announced the return of superstar Ronda Rousey who will be challenging Amanda Nunes for the UFC bantamweight championship at UFC 207 in December. Rousey has been inactive since dropping the title to Holly Holm in November of last year via brutal head kick knockout and her return looks certain to put an extraordinary finish to what has been one of the most successful years in UFC history.

The bulk of that success is due in large part to their other enormous star, Conor McGregor who has fought twice already this year including his own return from a devastating loss. In a recent Fan Q & A McGregor spoke about his own interest in Rousey's return and conveyed his hope that she took inspiration from the way he came back after losing to Nate Diaz.

"I'm very excited. It's good to finally see her back. Losses can really affect you. It's a crazy business we're in, especially at the very, very high top. I hope she took inspiration on how I came back from my defeat. And I wish her all the best. She's a solid competitor and I'm excited to see how it unfolds."

Rousey is the only fighter in the UFC with a credible claim to being a bigger star than McGregor. Before her loss to Holm last year Rousey was the biggest star in the sport, a household name making the jump from fighting into Hollywood and dismantling her challengers with ease. She also was bringing in substantial pay-per-view dollars, topping the million buy mark twice and even drawing an estimated 900,000 buys for her fight against Bethe Correia.

But in her absence, McGregor's star has grown exponentially, breaking all manner of records and now having the opportunity to become the first ever simultaneous two division UFC champion. At this point,, it's hard to say who the bigger star is. But despite the fact that Rousey is his only challenger (in this realm at least) McGregor even had some words of advice for Rousey beyond the Fan Q & A when he spoke with Sports Illustrated recently.

"I'd tell her to go shut them all up now. Shut them all up. Go and stake your claim again...Go and shut these people up now. Go and get what you began back."

McGregor has been known to be dismissive of other fighters (just ask Jeremy Stephens) so his support of Rousey is certainly interesting. After all, McGregor once famously said, "Gods recognize gods." That must make Rousey divine.

Ronda Rousey challenges Amanda Nunes for the UFC women's bantamweight championship on Dec30 at U. FC 207. Conor McGregor challenges Eddie Alvarez for the UFC lightweight championship on Nov. 12 at UFC 205.

MUST-READ STORIES

Sure. That's why. Jose Aldo says Dana White advised him against a fighters union so he could get "a bigger slice of the pie."

Tainted. Michael Bisping and Chris Weidman don't believe Yoel Romero's failed drug test explanation.

Response. Dana White responds to Cris Cyborg's complaints about not being pushed hard enough.

Got them over a barrel. Conor McGregor taunts the NAC on trying to get him to pay his fine, says he'll no longer fight in Nevada.

Possibly. Jose Aldo believes he is the best fighter in UFC history.

MEDIA STEW

Legacy 61 highlights including Dern's Imanari choke, Sub of the Year candidate.

Jason David Frank vs. CM Punk in Bellator is one of those horrible awful things that I would absolutely watch.

Rockhold on Greg Hardy.

Here's JBJ with his impossibly long arms.

And here's JBJ being a good dude.

LISTEN UP

Ken Flo's opinion on MMA judging from over the weekend.

Parting Shot.

TWEETS

Look at this ish, man.

Mackenzie Dern vs Montana Stewart #Legacy61 @TheMMALAB @MackenzieDern OH MY GAWD! Omoplata RNC pic.twitter.com/gM31KLOsHc

— Zombie Prophet (@ZPGIFs) October 15, 2016

Probably not.

Based on these bargain basement prices for #UFC206, definitely no GSP on the card. pic.twitter.com/j28usY729x

— Jonathan Snowden (@JESnowden) October 16, 2016

I love take no prisoners Cyborg.

If your team spent years calling me an 'it' with a 'dick' looking like wanderlia in a dress, it shouldnt b hard to m8 the fight @RondaRousey pic.twitter.com/c1dOIVRHNe

— Cris Cyborg (@criscyborg) October 16, 2016

DL still being great at social media

I'm like.... pic.twitter.com/otofxh7Nye

— Derrick Lewis (@Thebeast_ufc) October 15, 2016

I will be taking this long last name motherf**%#r serious #ufc #NewYork #theblackbeast

— Derrick Lewis (@Thebeast_ufc) October 15, 2016

Rumor is that these two tweets are related.

pic.twitter.com/jDzV1fcxNl

— Matt Brown (@IamTheImmortal) October 16, 2016

Tomorrow on @arielhelwani show I'll announce who and when I'm fighting !

— Platinum Mike Perry (@PlatinumPerry) October 17, 2016

It's me https://t.co/XL5tu2VNC7

— Stipe Miocic (@stipemiocicufc) October 17, 2016

Tonya Evinger should be in the UFC.

Eat ur heart out @TeciaTorres and what's her name.. #Remake pic.twitter.com/BuOFZ8uuXc

— tonya evinger (@tonyaevinger) October 16, 2016

Nate gonna get a LW title shot if Conor beats Eddie.

I was ready for round 3 that nite were you ?

A photo posted by natediaz209 (@natediaz209) on Oct 16, 2016 at 3:19pm PDT

He's turning over a new leaf.

No more b#tches UFC said come on ladies @teru145

A video posted by Cody Garbrandt (@cody_nolove) on Oct 16, 2016 at 7:01pm PDT

Pretty dope.

My cage rage belt is no longer in my possession but here is my Fx3 belt, cage warriors belt and 2 UFC belts.

A photo posted by Mikebisping (@mikebisping) on Oct 16, 2016 at 1:15pm PDT

Remember when people got really excited and announced Vitor retired even though he didn't?

Quem não conhecesse os seus erros não é digno de liderar a si mesmo, quanto mais as pessoas que o cercam. Reconheço que não sou perfeito, sou somente HUMANO , um SER HUMANO. O poeta já escreveu : " - que o amor seja eterno enquanto dure." Esse é um belíssimo trecho de um poema. Porém eu o considero ingênuo. Com todo carinho e respeito ao poeta, peço permissão para reescrevê-lo da seguinte maneira: " - QUE O AMOR SEJA ETERNO ENQUANTO SEJA CULTIVADO." Confesso que preciso cultivar meu desejo pela competição dentro do octógono. Sei que tenho que zelar por aquela chama que sempre ardeu em mim. Tendo conhecimento pleno disso: " - DECIDI QUE CUSTE O QUE CUSTAR VOU REACENDER MAIS UMA VEZ ESSA CHAMA." Muito obrigado pelo carinho e apoio. Vou finalizar esse capítulo na minha vida, olhando no espelho e reconhecendo a mim mesmo. Who does not recognize your own mistakes it is not worthy to lead yourself, even less the people around him. I recognize that I am far from perfect, I am only human; a human being. Once a poet in Brazil wrote: " - may love be eternal while it lasts. It is a beautiful fragment of a poem, but a truly consider it naive. If I may and with all do respect, I would re write it like this: " - may love be eternal while we nurture it." I confess that I need to nurture my competitive will inside the Octagon. I must cherish that fire inside of me again. Having recognized that to myself; I DECIDED TO DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO BURN THAT FLAME AGAIN! Thanks a lot for all the support and advices. But I decided that I will end this chapter of my life looking at the mirror and recognizing myself. @mundoboxing

A photo posted by Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort (@vitorbelfort) on Oct 15, 2016 at 1:01pm PDT

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Any Main (11-2-1) vs. Issei Tamura (10-7-0); Pancrase 282, November 13.

Derrick Lewis (16-4-0) vs. Shamil Abdurakhimov (17-3-0); UFC Fight Night 102, December 9.

Francis Ngannou (8-1-0) vs. Anthony Hamilton(15-5-0); UFC Fight Night 102, December 9.

Patrick Cummins (12-1-0) vs. Gian Villante (14-7-0); UFC Fight Night 102, December 9.

Oluwale Bamgbose (6-2-0) vs. Joe Gigliotti (7-1-0); UFC Fight Night 102, December 9.

Randy Brown (8-1-0) vs. Charlie Ward (2-1-0); UFC Fight Night 102, December 9.

Keith Berish (5-0-0) vs. Ryan James (8-1-0); UFC Fight Night 102, December 9.

Corey Anderson (8-2-0) vs. Sean O'Connell (17-8-0); UFC Fight Night 102, December 9.

Tatiana Suarez (4-0-0) vs. Juliana Lima (8-3-0); UFC Fight Night 102, December 9.

Zubaira Tukhugov (18-4-0) vs. Tiago dos Santos (20-5-2); UFC Fight Night 102, December 9.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Annnnd, we're back. Not gonna lie, the weekend off was nice. Hope y'all watched Dern pretzel that poor woman up something fierce because it was awesome. She could be something good given time. Definitely one to watch at the very least.

Be good y'all. Until tomorrow.

If you find something you'd like to see in the Morning Report, just hit me up on Twitter @JedKMeshew and let me know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram and add us on Snapchat at MMA-Fighting because we post dope things and you should enjoy them.